


Burning Rubber

by Katy_Stark



Series: "Breaking and well... more breaking?" -verse [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Canon Temporary Character Death, Dad Jokes, Humour, Injury Recovery, Kidnapping, Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery, Protective Clint Barton, Protective Natasha Romanov, Sibling Bonding, This sounds darker than it actually is I swear, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2020-12-22 22:37:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 37
Words: 99,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21084242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katy_Stark/pseuds/Katy_Stark
Summary: Sequel to "Breaking and... well, more breaking?". Evie found her outlet, and as three years pass she loves her life again. But when the good times fuck up as per usual, a witch, a speedster, and a robot with daddy issues are the new order of business. Evelyn has to try not to get herself and teammates killed by her own mistakes while dealing with the new two enhanced and a robot bent on destroying humanity. Let's see who breaks first, shall we?





	1. Chapter 1

_"_

_"Report to your stations immediately. This is not a drill. We are under attack. We are under attack."_  
  
It starts just the same as everything normally does - with a bang.  
  
Or in this case, it starts with someone bouncing off an invisible forcefield surrounding a HYDRA base in the snowy mountains of Sokovia.  
  
_"Shit!" _The genius billionaire shouted, his heads-up display glitching in response to the unexpected bump as JARVIS attempted to steady his flight path.  
  
"Language!" Steve scolded, driving through a mass of patrol guards on his motorcycle. "JARVIS, what's the view from upstairs?" he continued, seizing one by the ankle and dragging them through the snowy dirt before tossing them forcefully into a tree.   
  
_**"The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield. Strucker's technology is well beyond any other Hydra base we've taken." **_The AI responded dutifully over the team communication earpieces, their systems spying and scanning the base from the satellite stationed in the air.  
  
Thor crashed into a guard tower, kicking away one man and sending another flying through the air with Mjolnir. "Loki's sceptre must be here. Strucker couldn't mount this defence without it." He hit the final one off the tower, spinning the hammer around ready for another attack. "At long last."

"At long last is lasting a little long, boys." Natasha drove her truck ploughing through a gaggle of soldiers shooting blue energy weapons at the team. Sending it careening into a tree, she leapt off the side and onto two additional soldiers, snapping bones and taking them down to the floor with ease.  
  
Clint flinched as a beam of light energy breezed past him, singing the side of the tree he was ducking behind. "Yeah. I think we lost the element of surprise." He unloaded another arrow, firing back.  
  
"What gave it away? The fact that the alarms are blaring or something less obvious like the soldiers trying to shoot you in the ass?" The delightful voice of the twenty-four-year-old techie entered the conversation, typing away at her laptop from the safety of the Quinjet waiting outside the city.  
  
_"Did everyone just hear that?" _Tony interrupted. _"I swear I could have heard a... a mouse over comms or something. A squeaky little thing. Or maybe it was my imagination," _he trailed off with a teasing mumble.  
  
"Shut up, Tin Can, before I fly you into a snowbank to cool off," Evelyn threatened, computer screen flooded with CCTV of the team and Tony's HUD connected, displayed in the corner.  
  
_"Hold that thought a second. No one else is going to deal with the fact that Cap just said "language?"_  
  
"I know," Steve grumbled, flipping over the front of his motorcycle, using his momentum to fling it into an oncoming jeep of soldiers who quickly abandoned ship as he found his footing again. "It just slipped out."  
  
"Captain, sir, with all due respect, _come on_. I just patched up that bike." Evelyn whined quietly as she watched the supersoldier toss away her hard work into a fiery mess that she was not looking forward to fixing yet again.

Clint jogged further into the snowy woods, bow in hand and eyes scanning his surroundings. He spotted a bunker not far away, tracking the energy blasts the turret on top fired out at rapid speed. Ducking behind a thick tree, he poked his head around and gauged the distance, doing the math in his head and pulling an arrow from his quiver. Taking a second to nock it, he angled his upper body around the tree, held a moment, and fired before ducking back.  
  
But he didn't hear the explosion he expected.  
  
There was silence rather than an explosion. The turret gun had stopped firing, and there were boots crunching in the snow following HYDRA agents stomping around trying to find him. Furrowing his brow, the archer pulled out a second arrow to aim, and his fingers had no sooner released when something crashed into him and sent him flying through the air a few feet away to land in a snowy ditch on the hill.  
  
Rolling over and looking up, snow falling off his coat, a blue blur entered his vision, and then a body followed. Tall male, early twenties with a shock of white hair and dark roots appeared in front of him, smirking as he casually walked past the fallen agent.  
  
"You didn't see that coming?" The boy, presumably a local according to the accent, sped off before Clint could get another arrow up. He stared a little too long after the blur, and missed the bunker turret firing up again, falling down as his skin began to melt with a hiss under the hit from the gun.  
  
"Clint!" Nat rushed over, kneeling down and starting to drag him behind the cover of a tree.  
  
The thing continued to move through the woods, flipping up Steve into the air when in mid-observation, landing with practised ease and looking around quickly. "We have an enhanced in the field."  
  
Evelyn closed in on any security cameras she could access, multiple screens tracking the figure speeding across each one. "I got eyes. Looks like a... weird thingy. What the..?" She attempted to pause and zoom, but the figure was too distorted to make out on any recording she could access.  
  
"Clint's hit!" Natasha called out as the bunker continued firing around them, small explosions in the snow showering dirt across the landscape. "Somebody want to deal with that bunker?"  
  
A distant roar came to her aid, the lumbering Hulk heroically trudging through the bunker destroying it and the patrolling guards before stumbling off into another part of the woods.  
  
"Thank you," she said politely.  
  
_"I'm closing in. JARVIS, am I... closing in? Harley, do you see a power source for that shield?" _Stark flew around overhead, firing beams at the guards attempting to shoot him down with the base-defence heavy artillery.   
  
"According to the scan, there's a pair of gates leading to a pathway below the north tower." Typing a few things into the coding screen, Evie smiled. "And, oh, lucky for you, the gates are now open."  
  
_"Great, I wanna poke it with something." _Stark rotated, grabbing a missile launched towards him and quickly turning his path around to send it under the newly opened gates, blowing up the power source for the invisible base shield and watching the forcefield retract from the building. _"Drawbridge is down, people."_  
  
"Clint's hit pretty bad, guys. We're gonna need evac." Natasha bandaged the archer up as best she could.  
  
Thor joined Steve on the ground, landing with a thud and kicking away another soldier. "I can get Barton to the jet. The sooner we're gone the better." The God spun his hammer, rebounding his power off Steve's shield to split up a platoon lining up to shoot, the tank at their backs quickly split down the centre. "You, Summers, and Stark secure the sceptre." Mjolnir quickly pulled its owner off the ground and towards Clint coordinates in a rush.  
  
_"And for gosh sake, watch your language!"_ Tony chimed in with an overtly motherly tone.  
  
The ninety-five-year-old Captain sighed. "That's not going away anytime soon."  
  
Iron Man burst through the window of the facility, the inside soldiers starting to aim their weapons at his suit. _"Guys, stop, we gotta talk about this."_ The suit quickly started shooting agents in the legs and sides to disarm them, mowing them down without a seconds' chance of firing back. _"Good talk."_  
  
"No, it wasn't."   
  
Evelyn snorted at the agent's response, switching her view to the inside building cameras to follow Tony's movements as Thor, Natasha, Bruce, and Clint all stumbled through the open doors to the jet, laying Clint down on the table in the centre to tend to. "Clint, you okay?"   
  
"Been better," Clint grit out, biting down hard on a cloth handed to him by Bruce as Natasha began applying antiseptic to his wound. It looked pretty bad, seared as if his skin was literally being eaten alive by something.  
  
Stark landed on the floor of the lab, stepping out of his Iron Man suit which closed back up behind him. "Sentry mode," he instructed JARVIS, the suit quickly raising its arm, aiming in defence. The billionaire walked over to the computers lined against the wall, plugging in a secure Stark Industries USB. "Okay, JARVIS. You know I want it all. Make sure you copy to Hill at HQ. Harley, you watching this?"  
  
"Eyes on target. There's not much here." She squinted at her screen, a habit Clint kept telling her she needed to kick before she got frown lines -not that he could talk-, flicking her view to different angles through the option of cameras. Finally, JARVIS's room scan blinked twice, highlighting a wall in a ring of red light, indicating a discrepancy. "The wall to your left. JARVIS is reading some steel reinforcement. And an air current. But something's blocking the scanner past that point." She couldn't see further past that part of the wall, not as if it weren't there but instead just a closed-off space.  
  
Tony approached the section of the wall with a little helpful guidance of "_cold, warmer, red hot" _by the techie, sticking his hands out tentatively to feel around the rough surface of the bricks. "Please be a secret door, please be a secret door, please be a secret door..." He gave a push to the bricks and the wall opened up revealing to him indeed a secret door. "Yay!" The genius cheered quickly and entered through to a secret passageway. Tony reached into his pocket, sliding on a pair of glasses and tapping the rim of the right eyeglass twice to send the feed to Evelyn's computer. "H. Keep on my back," he instructed, footsteps echoing throughout the room.  
  
"I'm watching. Keep walking," she assured him, eyes flicking over to Clint looking pretty bad on the table, but soon meeting her eyes and giving his best smile around the cloth gritted between his teeth. Trust Clint to try and be smiley in a situation like his.  
  
_"We have a second enhanced. Female. Do not engage." _Steve suddenly interrupted, then a pause. _"Guys, I got Strucker."_  
  
"Yeah, I got... something bigger." Inside the secret passageway, Stark walked forward into a room littered with recovered artefacts from the Battle of New York, including a gigantic Chitauri Leviathan hanging on display from the ceiling and some of his Iron Man scrapped armour he didn't remember loaning away to HYDRA. He narrowed his eyes at that, slightly ruffled. Then, as he wandered around to do a little more exploring, the glowing blue light in the centre of the room caught his attention, and he finally spotted the sceptre in its holding display. "Thor, I got eyes on the prize."  
  
Movement on the sentry camera caught Summers' attention, a shadow passing through the doorway. "Stark, wait-"  
  
Too late. Red magic was already flowing from the young enhanced's fingers, flooding into Tony's mind and affecting his vision before the shadow crept away to a darkened section of the lab, leaving Tony in a dreaming trance staring ahead at the sceptre. It was too dark to pick out details on the profile of who it had been, the grainy footage more of a hindrance now presented to Evelyn, but it had definitely been the second enhanced Steve mentioned moments before.  
  
"Stark? Stark? You okay?" Evelyn asked, tapping her keyboard to make his glasses flash in front of his eyes in an alert. No response. It took a few seconds of concerned glances between herself, the assassin, the archer, the doctor, and the God, and some more flashes before Tony finally snapped out of his dream state.  
  
"Yeah," he breathed out, rubbing his eyes with a gruff grumble when a flash caught him off-guard.  
  
Evelyn stopped pressing the button, mumbling an apology.  
  
Focusing back on the mission at hand, he shook his head free of the whispering aftereffects his dream, thrust out his arm to the side, circling around the sceptre before the arm of his suit finally followed his call and attached itself to him and he grabbed the sceptre from its holder, triumphantly. "I've got the sceptre. And I'm bringing it home."  
  
Evelyn breathed out, setting her laptop to the side and slumping against the bench, Bruce soon joining her in a new jumper and sweatpants, looking dishevelled and sweaty. She got up, walking to the centre table and perching on the edge, looking at Clint as Natasha moved away to tend to the jet. The techie reached out, taking Clint's hand and squeezing, feeling an equal squeeze in return as he drifted off with the drugs at the same time Tony and Steve returned, and the plane started flying off back to headquarters.


	2. Artificial

Touching down a few hours later, Clint was quickly wheeled out of the jet and rushed into Headquarters, straight to geneticist Helen Cho's lab as the rest of the team disembarked. Natasha, Bruce, and Evelyn stuck with the archer while Thor, Tony, and Steve disappeared off to cool down from the mission. Soon enough, Barton was hooked up to the Regeneration Cradle, which looked more like a freaky machine ready to pull out his liver, and printing out tissue to fix up his injuries.  
  
"You sure he's going to be okay?" Evelyn sat on a clear desk to the side, arms folded and worrying her bottom lip as she tried not to look too anxious.  
  
"There's no possibility of deterioration. The nano-molecular functionality is instantaneous. His cells don't know they're bonding with simulacrum," Cho explained, typing on a nearby screen as the scans monitored Barton's injury.  
  
"She's _creating _tissue." Banner smiled at the machine.  
  
Helen shrugged modestly. "If you brought him to my lab, the Regeneration Cradle could do this in twenty minutes."  
  
"Oh, he's flatlining. Call it. Time?" Tony strolled in with a cupholder full of murky green protein drinks, checking his watch.  
  
"No, no, no. I'm going to live forever. I'm gonna be made of plastic," Barton declared and chuckled, rolling over.  
  
Stark handed Barton a cup, "Here's your beverage," before handing them around to the rest of the group.  
  
"You'll be made of you, Mr Barton. Your own girlfriend won't be able to tell the difference," Cho insisted.  
  
"Well, I don't have a girlfriend," he mumbled, sipping.  
  
"That I can't fix."  
  
Evelyn giggled and coughed to cover it. "This is the second time today where you've nearly died, you know," she told him.  
  
"I didn't nearly die, I was just taking a five-minute breather." The techie was just being dramatic.  
  
"With your rib skin deteriorating." She raised an eyebrow, cooly.  
  
"If you don't mind Barton, I need to borrow the doctor and Smaller Barton for a minute," Tony announced before turning to strut back out of the room.  
  
"For the fiftieth ti- and he's gone." The girl glared after the billionaire before focusing back on Clint. "You gonna be okay?"  
  
"I've been worse." He finished his drink.  
  
"You've been better." Evelyn handed him hers.  
  
He took it with a smile. "You're flattering me now but make sure to try not to baby me."  
  
"Oh, I'm not treating you like a baby. No, I'm treating you like an old man. Are you gonna need your walker? Let me fetch it."  
  
"Evelyn..." Clint grumbled after the brunette quickly jogging out of the room with a cheeky grin.  
  
  
Evelyn strolled happily into Tony's main lab. She'd been in this headquarters a few times, but not yet familiar enough to know how not to get lost finding a bathroom outside the lab floor. But this room was something she'd grown comfortably accustomed to since becoming a part of the team. She wasn't a full Avenger, mainly by choice, but she was the closest you could get without being an official fighter.  
  
"What's the rumpus?" Bruce stepped down the stairs to stand between Evelyn and Tony.  
  
"Well, the sceptre. You see, we were wondering how Strucker got so inventive. So, I've been analyzing the gem inside you may recognize." Stark pulled out his phone, flicking it to bring up a 3D image of JARVIS's consciousness where Bruce was standing. As he moved to stand far enough away to see it properly, JARVIS appeared as an orange orb surrounded by small fissions of energy rotating around in rings.  
  
"JARVIS." Bruce greeted with a nod.  
  
_**"Doctor. Agent."**_ The AI responded to the two guests stood watching.  
  
"Wow." Evelyn had never seen JARVIS's consciousness, she had only ever heard his voice before. It still to this day made her think she was about to be attacked whenever he started randomly talking out of nowhere. Especially when she was walking around the building alone looking for something. Hearing his voice for the first time after having not been warned by Tony, she nearly pissed herself.  
  
"Started out, JARVIS was just a natural language UI. Now he runs the Iron Legion. He runs more of the business than anyone besides Pepper. Top of the line."  
  
_**"I suspect not for long."**_  
  
"Meet the competition." Tony gathered the consciousness of the gem, bringing it up beside JARVIS in another 3-D display. This one was coloured blue, much larger than its counterpart with little crackles of lightning shaped tendrils spreading out. Evelyn would compare it to a brain synapse diagram she used to see in her bio textbooks.  
  
"It's beautiful." Bruce began walking around the blue display.  
  
Tony hummed. "If you had to guess, what's it look like it's doing?"  
  
"Like it's thinking. I mean this could be a... it's not a human mind, it..." Bruce waved his arm through the hologram. "I mean, look at this! They're like neurons firing."  
  
"Shit." Evelyn finally managed to kick her brain into gear to comment. Walking towards it, she lifted a hand and brushed it through the blue image, her hand falling right through and gently disturbing the hologram's tendrils, dispersing before reassembling to remain in its thinking display.  
  
"Down in Strucker's lab Evie and I saw some fairly advanced robotics work. They deep-sixed the data, but... I gotta guess he was knocking on a very particular door."  
  
Bruce narrowed his eyes with a nod. "Artificial intelligence."  
  
Tony walked closer, eyes glancing towards the medical room before back to Bruce. "This could be it, Bruce. This could be the key to creating Ultron. If we can harness this power, apply it to my Iron Legion protocol."  
  
Banner removed his glasses. "That's a mad-sized if." He began wandering away, Tony following, as Evie continued to play with the hologram in childish fascination.  
  
"Our job is "if." What if you were sipping margaritas on a sun-drenched beach turning brown instead of green? Not looking over your shoulder for VERONICA." Tony continued to try and persuade him.  
  
"Don't hate. I helped design VERONICA." Bruce shrugged gently.  
  
"As a worst-case measure, right? How about a best-case? What if the world was safe? What if next time aliens roll up to the club, and they will, they couldn't get past the bouncer?"  
  
"So, the only people threatening the planet would be people."  
  
They stopped walking as they stood again beside the girl who had finally stopped messing with the hologram. "I want to apply this to the Ultron program. But JARVIS can't download a data schematic this dense. We can only do it while we have the sceptre here, that's three days, give me three days."  
  
Bruce smiled bitterly. "So you're going for artificial intelligence and you don't want to tell the team."  
  
Tony nodded. "Right. That's right. You know why? Because we don't have time for a city hall debate. I don't want to hear the "man was not meant to meddle" medley. I see a suit of armour around the world."  
  
"Sounds like a cold world, Tony."  
  
"I've seen colder. This one, this very vulnerable blue one? It needs Ultron." He dropped his phone to the desk, both holograms disappearing. "Peace in our time. Imagine that."  
  
"You two realise that I have essentially no idea what anything you just said means, right?" Evelyn spoke up, glancing between the two with a half confused stare.  
  
Tony seemed to remember the fact he hadn't shared this project with anyone but Bruce before and started explaining, "Project ULTRON is a peacekeeping program I designed to allow the Iron Legion to operate independently to safeguard Earth under the direction of an A.I."  
  
Evie nodded slowly as she pieced together the bits she understood. "Okay, but it seems like you two already have this pretty much solved so... what do you need me for?"  
  
Tony stepped to stand in front of her. "Evelyn, without sounding like I'm giving favouritism, you are without doubt one of the best students Stark Industries has ever had. We only have three days and an extra pair of hands with an exceptional understanding of mechanics like yours would be helpful to figure this out."  
  
"Yeah, I'm good with machines, not... whatever that was." She waved her arm to where JARVIS and the gem displays used to be.  
  
"Think of it as your next big project on your Internship. Extra credit is always good, right?" He gave her a winning smile.  
  
"This counts as favouritism, Stark." She crossed her arms, eyebrow raised.  
  
"Come on, Mouse. Be the cat for once." Tony tried again to persuade her around to joining in with the science bros.  
  
The girl blinked slowly at him. "Please tell me you think that's as cringy a metaphor as I do?" Evelyn asked, turning to Banner with a scrunched up face.  
  
Bruce chuckled silently, glancing away.  
  
Evie looked back at Tony still looking at her with a tilted head and expectant expression. "Fiiiine," she groaned, giving in.  
  
"You can't tell the team about this. Not even Legolas." The billionaire wagged a finger at her.  
  
"I get it." She nodded back.  
  
Tony nodded, picking up his phone from the side table and starting to wander away before Bruce spoke up. "W-what did you mean earlier by 'not the first time today Barton nearly died'?" He recalled her words from the lab, making Tony pause and turn around with an interested look.  
  
"Um..."  
  
_**That morning...**  
"Clint, I'm scared."  
  
"Evie, come on. Be a big girl now."  
  
"I don't wanna do this. What if I actually..?"  
  
"You won't. Trust me. I'm wearing a vest, they're low-velocity rounds, everything will be fine." Clint tried to reassure her as the agent fidgeted with the gun in her hands.  
  
"What if I shoot you in the head? Or in your bow pulling arm or something?"  
  
Barton sighed, "You won't. We've practised this over and over and you're getting practically bullseyes every time."  
  
"On paper and mannequin targets, sure. Not real people." She shook her head, shifting on her feet and eyes flickering around at the Headquarters training room thankfully empty at this time in the morning.  
  
"Evelyn. There will come a time when you don't have a choice. I know it's not nice to think about but sometimes the world isn't nice. And it won't leave you any other options," Clint said stiffly, pulling her attention back to him. He stood straight, arms relaxed by his sides and expression one of complete trust. "Now, shoot me."  
  
"I'm scared."  
  
"Breathe."  
  
"Clint."  
  
"Evelyn," He bit. She took a long breath in, letting it out again and nodding. "Shoot me."  
  
Evelyn raised and shot the gun.  
  
A second later Clint was on the floor. And yelling in pain.  
  
Evie dropped the gun and ran over immediately. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Oh, my god. Clint!" She fell to her knees beside him, trying to look over the damage where his fist was clenched in front of his side. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!" She pulled back his hand to reveal it stained in blood.  
  
"Ugh." Clint rolled around on the floor and choked out a pained groan.  
  
"I thought you said this vest would stop it!" She pressed her hands on the vest, trying to find where the bullet had shot through him.  
  
"I'm bleeding." Clint looked at his hand with wide eyes.  
  
"Shit. What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?" Evelyn waved her hands frantically, any training SHIELD had given her about staying calm and calculated instantly tossed out the window.  
  
Clint began to pant, holding his side. "Well, first, I'm gonna need you to go get a cloth so I can wipe this dye off my hands."  
  
"Okay, okay, just stay there. I'll go get you a-" Evelyn was halfway to standing before it clicked. She narrowed her eyes, slowly twisting back to look at him. "Dye?" She repeated, and watched as the shit-eating grin slowly slid its way across the archer's lips, wiggling his fingers in a smug wave. "You son of a..."  
  
"Evelyn. Evie. Evie." Clint tried to prise her hands away from his neck as she was quickly straddling and half-attempting to choke him. "Okay, okay! Calm down there, Harley!"  
  
She'd grown stronger in the years of SHIELD training, stronger than Clint remembered her being before that moment and was surprised when he was almost not able to fling her off him and roll to the side. "You fucking asshole! I thought you were hurt for real," she yelled at him with a fiery glare.  
  
He pulled his smirk back on. "You were worried."  
  
Evelyn growled, fist-clenching before pointing a finger at him. "I swear I'm gonna spray paint your car, your suit, and your bow bright pink with glitter and flowers and ribbons!"  
  
Clint laughed.  
  
And then Thor's echoing footsteps were approaching the room, his thunderous voice announcing they needed to leave soon for the mission.  
_  
"...It doesn't matter." Evelyn insisted gently with an innocent smile and one-shoulder shrug.  
  
Both men glanced at each other with a wary look, silent for a moment with suspicious expressions, before Tony clapped twice with an enthusiastic grin quickly plastered onto his face. "Right. Let's get to work." 


	3. Hammer time

The next three days were spent in a caffeine-fueled analysis for Stark, Summers, and Banner. Over and over again they examined the gem, investigated its schematics, and tried variation after variation of programs in an attempt to find one that worked. But even when they believed they'd finally gotten one right, Tony put the final pieces in place to test, and the three watched with bated breath as the hologram simulation for ULTRON flashed red and shattered before their eyes with a depressing defeat.   
  
"What did we miss?" Tony sighed, putting his empty coffee mug down for the last time on the early evening of the third day.  
  
He glanced around the room, spotting Banner having fallen asleep in his chair, pen dropping from his hand to the desk with a faint click, and Summers on the floor close to him, curled up with closed eyes, surrounded by pages and pages of equations and sketches, all of which had dark pencil lines crossing through them marking them failures.  
  
With the assistance of JARVIS and calling a newly-fixed Barton up to the lab, he managed to get Bruce and Evelyn to bed, shutting his own work down and going to his room, ready to set preparations for the party.  
  
  
Fluorescent neon lights illuminated the room in a soft glow, calmly pushing away the darkness from outside the large floor to ceiling window overlooking the city. A gentle playlist kept the party going when the small talk died out. The room was alive with the anyone and everyone that had been lucky enough to receive an invitation to show themselves at the Stark event. Flooding the room, random strangers moved around with congratulations on their tongues and the free drinks on their minds, not overly crowded but just a few select people Stark deemed perfect party company that would laugh at the overplayed stories and provide the feeling of having other people to know except for the rest of the team.  
  
Evelyn strolled across the room towards one of the two bars in her combat boots, Thomas Denver walking happily beside her in his sneakers as they caught up on the most recent missions from each other.  
  
"No, no. I'm not complaining. I'm just trying to sound tough. I'm perfectly happy doing what I'm doing with my own team. I'm glad you've found one of your own," Thomas insisted as they reached the bar, him sitting on a stool in his casual button-down with Evie in her black jeans and low neck top only just covering her left shoulder bullet wound, going behind it to pour them both a drink.  
  
"They're cool. A bit odd and sometimes annoying but ultimately they're cool," she chuckled, picking up a tumbler and beginning to mix. "And I'm sure they were extremely flattered when you were fawning all over them the first time you met the whole team."  
  
"Oh, ha bloody ha. Ha, ha, ha."  
  
Evie smirked evilly to herself at his embarrassed mocking. "Anything felt like an old dinner party for you yet?"  
  
"No. And I'm thankful for that. Its been a refreshing change to handle my own team and fix things up our way, even though half of them turned out to be HYDRA during the INSIGHT Incident. Whatever side you're on, you die a little inside when your teammate, your friend, becomes an enemy." He ran his hands through his hair, elbows resting atop the bar as Evelyn set out two glasses for them.  
  
"Had much contact with your family lately?"  
  
"I call when I can which probably isn't often enough. As I said, I love them, just not their methods. And they seem to be okay with mine." He pulled up his head and rested it on his fist instead. "What about you?"  
  
"My grandparents are okay. Macy and Darren are fine- Macy's twelve now, can you believe it? I can, since her baking's gotten a lot better," Evelyn chuckled as she poured their drinks. "No, everything's been alright. It makes me feel a bit on edge come to think about it since everything's been going so well." She tossed the tumbler away and picked up her drink.  
  
Thomas picked up his own. "You need to relax. Take it from me, I'm thirty-five and I'm younger than most of those guys but they're still having fun." The agent gestured to the crowd of Avengers scattered across the room. Sam and Steve were happily playing pool while Tony, Thor and Rhodes were talking with Maria. And now, Natasha and Bruce were chatting at the bar while Clint was staring out of the floor-to-ceiling windows at the city. "You're twenty-four now. How's it feel?" Thomas asked.  
  
"Better than my teens. Now the only bullies I have to worry about are the ones threatening the world," Evelyn said with a small smile. Thomas chuckled and clinked their glasses in a toast. "I feel... yeah, I feel good." She nodded, taking a small sip from the glass.  
  
It fell comfortably quiet between the two. Evelyn glanced around the party seeing Bruce sitting down with Natasha and Clint still staring out the window like he was hypnotised. She snorted into her drink when her mind decided to compare him to a hawk watching its territory, coughing through laughter at her own thoughts. But when she looked back at Thomas, he was looking distractedly across the floor to a crowd of ladies happily chatting and giggling the night away. "Something caught your interest?" she asked, smirking.  
  
"Hey, I'm single and I'm at a party. Sue me." Denver shrugged a shoulder, nonchalant, then raised an eyebrow at Evelyn. "Don't suppose you're interested in dating anyone? You've not mentioned a boyfriend yet."  
  
"Not a chance." She shook her head with a slight scoff. The thought of a relationship had never really appealed to her since anyone who knew her before Clint either didn't like her, or was about ten years her senior.  
  
Thomas glanced at the women again, chewing his bottom lip before tapping the bar twice. "Well, I'm gonna go for it. Enjoy the rest of your night, Evie." He picked up his glass, shuffling off the barstool and wandering away to make his moves.  
  
Evie smiled gently. "See you, Thomas."  
  
  
The rest of the night seemed to blur together, wandering around and talking to various members of the team as more and more people disappeared off home, leaving the main group with Rhodes, Maria, and Helen Cho, alone by the time it hit midnight. The team had gathered on the upper deck, each seated on the plush black leather sofa's that surrounded the coffee table littered with drink bottles and glasses sat between them.  
  
"But, it's a trick!" Clint sat twirling a drumstick in his hand, calling out the God sitting across from him.   
  
"Oh, no. It's much more than that," Thor insisted with a deep chuckle, pouring himself the last of his drink into the glass, sat beside the Captain.  
  
"Uh, '_Whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power!'_," Clint deepened his voice in a childish imitation of Odin_. "_Whatever man! It's a trick!"   
  
"Well please, be my guest," Thor's invitation silenced the rest of the room and their conversations.  
  
Everything seemed to freeze for a moment.  
  
The drumstick in the archer's hand stopped moving. "Really?" Clint raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Yeah," Thor shrugged with a friendly smile.  
  
Clint pursed his lips and shrugged, dropping the drumstick to Evie's lap beside him and standing up.  
  
"Oh, this is gonna be beautiful," Rhodes spoke up from beside Tony on the far sofa.  
  
"Clint, you've had a tough week, we won't hold it against you if you can't get it up," Stark smirked.  
  
Clint casually stepped up to where the hammer was sitting. "You know I've seen this before, right?" Clint grew up in the circus, he'd seen every trick imaginable. Plus, the first time he saw Thor, the blond wasn't able to pick it up either. Not that he would ever mention that out of fear of being swung into a nearby wall.  
  
Barton glanced at Evelyn who was smiling, playing with the drumstick between her fingers. "Don't put your back out, old man." She grinned at him with a wink.  
  
Clint grunted, grabbing the handle and strained as he tried to pull it off the table for a few seconds before letting go with a puff. "I still don't know how you do it," He began chuckling embarrassedly.  
  
"Smell the silent judgment?"  
  
"Please, Stark, by all means." Clint invited the Iron Man to the competition.  
  
Tony shrugged and stood from the sofa.  
  
"Oh, here we go."  
  
Clint went and sat back down in his place, the drumstick quickly passed over, coming to spin in his hand again.  
  
"Never one to shrink from an honest challenge," Stark clicked his tongue, moving around the table_. _"It's physics," He declared.  
  
"Physics!" Bruce raised his non-alcoholic bottle in a mock cheer.  
  
"Right, so if I lift it I then rule Asgard?" Tony began rolling up his sleeves.  
  
"Yes, of course," Thor's tone was too relaxed to be sarcastic.  
  
"I will be re-instituting Prima Nocta." Tony slipped his hand through the wrist strap, unlike Barton had decided to dismiss, and began tugging. He didn't last very long before slipping his hand out. "I'll be right back," He mumbled, returning two minutes later with the arm of his suit. But even when the thrusters on the side kicked in he failed.  
  
Not to be outdone by an inanimate object, he tag-teamed Rhodey who then retrieved his own suit arm and the both of them grabbed the handle. "Are you even pulling?"  
  
"Are you on my team?" Stark looked at his friend.  
  
"Just represent! Pull!" The colonel ordered.  
  
"Alright, let's go." Both of the boys tried as hard as they could, looking like they were about to pass out as a few of the team were wary they weren't breathing. The two soon dropped their grip and began breathing again, giving off a few excuses about the hammer being rigged and soon discarding of the arms of the suits.  
  
Banner was next to play a part. He stood up, not bothering to take off his glasses or suit jacket and grabbing a hold of the hammer. He sought to lift it off from the top of the table, then jumped back and roared gently, pretending to change to the Hulk. He soon came to an awkward halt as everyone stared at him warily. When he stopped making the noise and began rubbing his hands against his suit trousers, Banner cut the joke. "Huh?" He asked softly.  
  
The rest tried to erase their minds of the last twenty seconds as Bruce sat back down. The next person to be volunteered to give it a shot was the Captain.  
  
"Let's go, Steve. No pressure."  
  
"Come on, Cap," Rhodes joined in, trying to avoid being even more embarrassed.  
  
Steve rolled his sleeves to his elbows, walking around the table, grabbing the handle with both hands and a smile on his lips. It was all in light humour anyway. Steve started pulling on the hammer, and Thor noticed the little budge that accompanied a tiny metal squeak, looking ever so slightly alarmed. Seconds later, Steve still gave up on trying to lift it, and Thor gave a small laugh of relief, "Nothing." He took a large gulp from his drinking glass as he grinned at his friend when he went to sit back down.  
  
"Widow?"  
  
"Oh, no, no. That's not a question I need answered." Natasha took a sip from her brown glass beer bottle.  
  
"All deference to the man who wouldn't be king, but it's rigged."   
  
"Everyone had enough?" Thor chuckled again, moving a few blond locks of his hair back over his shoulder.  
  
"What about Mouse?" Stark, of course, was the one to speak up again, not letting the competition be over just yet.   
  
If she'd been sipping, Evie would have choked on her drink. "Uh, nah, I'm good." She shook her head, shifting in her seat and actually reaching for her drink.  
  
"Come on. Don't you want to try and save the integrity of the Barton family line?"  
  
"I'm not his daughter," was groaned out at the same time as Barton grumbled, "She's not my daughter."  
  
Since the first time meeting everyone else back on the Helicarrier, all team members aside from Natasha, Coulson, and Fury had assumed Evelyn was in some way related to Barton due to their close connection. And regardless of how many times the two had disproved the idea, someone always had to tease. They were similar in personality, and Bruce even pointed out they looked kinda similar with the hair colour. But Evelyn would never have enough time to be able to articulate the annoyance she felt at how long it took her to convince Thor to stop calling her Young Hawk. It didn't help that he'd later seen her shoot a bow in the training room after New York either.  
  
"We're not getting any younger," Tony complained, finishing his drink in one gulp.  
  
"Clint?" The mechanic looked at Clint for help, who remained quiet and watching her. He seemed to be debating it himself, and a smile was pulling at the corner of his mouth. Seeing no assistance there, she gave up and threw her hands in the air. "Fine, but I don't know what you expect."  
  
Evelyn didn't expect herself to be able to lift it. It was an ancient object which was very judgy when it came to deciding who was worthy and who wasn't. She wouldn't be worthy of something like that without a real need to lift it.  
  
Evelyn pushed herself off the sofa and brushed a hand over the handle, giving a mock pull that didn't last half a second. "Nope."  
  
"Come on, that wasn't a real effort," Stark accused.  
  
Evelyn ignored him and sat back down.  
  
Tony, mercifully, left it alone. "The handle's imprinted, right? Like a security code. _'Whosoever is carrying Thor's fingerprints'_ is, I think, the literal translation?"   
  
"Yes, well that's, uh, that's a very, very interesting theory." Thor stood, carrying his drinking glass in his left hand. "I have a simpler one." The god grasped his hammer with his right, spinning it in the air before catching it again as if it weighed nothing. "You're all not worthy."  
  
A chorus of disagreement from everyone on the sofas followed until a loud mechanical screeching noise that caused everyone to cover their ears. When the sharp noise faded, everyone let their hands down and turned their attention to the mysterious clunking stranger slowly stomping in from the room entrance.


	4. Dramatic

_"Worthy..." _The broken, mechanical voice echoed almost like a person. But the body clearly wasn't. _"No..." _The body was a suit, a broken one, it looked like it had been ripped apart by some kind of giant beast, broken wires going every which way, oil spilling out of the tubes and pooling on the floor. _"How could you be worthy? You're all killers." _It continued to step forward clumsily into the group's view.  
  
"JARVIS?" Tony pulled out his screen, tapping a few times on the glass.  
  
_"I'm sorry, I was asleep. Or... I was a-dream?"_   
  
"Reboot, Legionnaire OS, we got a buggy suit." Tony continued to tap at the screen in his palm.   
  
_"There was a terrible noise. And I was tangled in- in... strings." _The thing waved its torn arms, motor oil dripping on the floor. _"I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy."_  
  
Steve stood up. "You killed someone?"  
  
_"Wouldn't have been my first call."_ It responded. _"But, down in the real world, we're faced with ugly choices."_  
  
Thor held tightly onto his hammer. "Who sent you?"  
  
"**_'I see a suit of armour around the world'_**," The thing played back a voice recording.   
  
"Ultron," Evelyn realised, recognising Tony's voice.  
  
_"In the flesh."_ The thing took another step. _"Or no, not this,.. chrysalis. But I'm ready. And I'm on a mission."_  
  
"What mission?" Hill clicked the safety off her gun.  
  
_"Peace of our time."_  
  
_**SMASH!**_  
  
The Iron Legion bots thundered through the walls beside the elevator and flew towards them. Clint and Evelyn ducked, Maria and Natasha jumped out of the way and the Captain kicked the coffee table up before two bots knocked it forwards, and knocked him over in the process. Hill quickly regained her sense and began shooting into the air at the same time Thor got up to swing his hammer into another.  
  
As Natasha and Bruce ran to the other side of the room for cover, Evelyn was grabbed by the arm and Clint dragged her to cover behind the flipped pool table.  
  
"Are you okay?" Clint rolled her over to see her clutching her upper arm.  
  
"Yeah." Evie nodded, pulling her hand away from her arm. But the crimson staining her palm told another story. Clint looked at the cut on her shoulder from a bot brushing her with a sharp metal edge. "Don't worry about it." She shook her head.  
  
Tony and Rhodes slid down to the lower deck, Tony getting knocked into the bookcase a few feet away and crashing down onto the unforgiving wood as Rhodes was shoved through a glass window to the loading bay, landing badly on his arm.  
  
One legionnaire dove for the pool table and Clint and Evie grabbed two pool cues, Clint batting it into a spin and Evelyn stabbing it through the chest to pin it down. Clint stabbed it through a few more times in the head until the blue lights running through it died.  
  
As another legionnaire grabbed the sceptre from its place on display, Tony sat up from the bookcase and spied a metal prong off the side, yanking it to him and standing, running off.   
  
Clint was quickly knocked off his feet and through a glass screen to the lower deck, landing with a groan in a shower of broken glass. Another went flying up to Evelyn, arm raised as she raised the pool cue to hit it, but then after a hum of consideration, the arm lowered. Not that that stopped her decapitating it with the wooden stick that instantly splintered into two.   
  
She ran to follow Clint before getting blasted behind the bar and landing with a thump. She shifted away from the broken glass raining down, seizing a tumbler and tossing it at the head of a nearby bot. It didn't knock it out but it got its attention, turning around and glaring at her. Offering a weak smile, she next grabbed a particularly breakable looking wine bottle and smashed it against the bot, continuing the same method until finally the power shut down and the bot crashed to the floor. She hopped back over the bar, kicking it away and sliding down to the lower deck grabbing Clint, but not before he grabbed Cap's shield from the side.  
  
Tony sped up to the observation deck platform, jumping off the railing and onto a flying legionnaire, sticking a metal prong in its control system in order to shut it down. The bot's thrusters kept them both in the air as it tried prying Tony off its back.  
  
"Stark!"  
  
"One sec, one sec!" He struggled to keep himself balanced while disabling the robot in mid-air.  
  
_"We are here to help. We are here to help..."_ The legionnaire continuously repeated its programmed message as Stark fiddled with the controls. _"We are here to help. It's unsafe. It's unsafe. It's unsafe."_  
  
"No more. That's the one." Stark managed to shut it down, both him and the bot crashing to the floor in the centre of the room. He dropped to the stairs, glass scraping against the floor as he fell onto the broken shards.  
  
Barton and Summers ran back into the room, Barton tossing the shield towards its owner. "Cap!"  
  
Steve grabbed it, swinging it around and tossing it to dismember the last legionnaire, catching it when it hit the back wall and returned.  
  
There was a single moment of quiet when the threat was almost completely neutralised.  
  
_"That was dramatic." _Ultron murmured from where he hadn't actually moved at all during the fight. _"I'm sorry, I know you mean well. You just didn't think it through."_ The group settled but kept their attention focused on the robot standing half-alive before them. "_You want to protect the world, but you don't want it to change. How is humanity saved if it's not allowed to... evolve?" _Ultron picked up a dismembered legionnaire. _"With these? These puppets?"_ He crushed the skull so the faceplate popped off, revealing sparking electronics behind the broken shell. He dropped the body with a clunk. _"There's only one path to peace: The Avengers' extinction."_  
  
Thor threw his hammer at Ultron, which pushed him back and smashed him into pieces against the elevator. The head of the broken legionnaire flickered with a blue light in its eyes as Thor claimed back his hammer._ "I had strings, but now I'm free. There are no strings on me, no strings on me..."_ The robotic being sung until the voice faded out with a fizz and crackle.   
  
Silence.  
  
As the rest of the Avengers came off of alert mode, the group began to look over each other for injuries, making sure no major damanged was suffered between them, gathering everyone up and all moving up into the lab to discuss.   
  
  
  
"All our work is gone. Ultron cleared out - used the internet as an escape hatch," Bruce explained as everyone got back to the lab.  
  
"_'_Ultron_'_," Steve mocked, arms folded with a mutter.  
  
"He's been in everything. Files, surveillance." Natasha turned away from the computer she sat at."Probably knows more about us than we know about each other."   
  
"He's in your files, he's in the internet." Rhodes had had his arm seen to, and now he held a disinfected cloth over the gash, after having plucked out the little shards of glass. "What if he decides to access something a little more _exciting_?"  
  
"Nuclear codes."  
  
"Nuclear codes." Rhodes sat down on a clean workbench. "Look, we need to make some calls, assuming we still can."  
  
Natasha shook her head. "Nukes? He said he wanted us dead."  
  
"He didn't say _'dead'_," Cas spoke up. "He said _'extinct'_."  
  
"He also said he killed somebody," Clint added in, finishing wrapping a bandage around Evie's cut arm.   
  
"But there wasn't anyone else in the building."  
  
"Yes, there was." Stark flicked his phone to the centre of the room, bringing up an orange mess into view. No, not an orange mess. A destroyed 3D hologram of JARVIS.  
  
Banner circled round the orange display, parts scattered and dumped, resembling the sort of mess one of the legionnaires was in. "This is insane."  
  
"JARVIS was the first line of defence. He would've shut Ultron down, it makes sense," Steve sighed.  
  
"No, Ultron could've assimilated Jarvis," the doctor spoke up, gesturing to the rest of JARVIS's broken being. "This isn't strategy, this is... rage."  
  
Heavy footsteps echoed from down the corridor and suddenly Thor grabbed a hold of Stark by his throat and held him up in the air. "Come on. Use your words, buddy." Stark's hands went to Thor's, trying to free himself as the god held him up in the air to the full extension of his arm.  
  
"I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark."  
  
"Thor! The Legionnaire." Steve caused Thor to let go.  
  
"Trail went cold about a hundred miles out but it's headed north, and it has the sceptre," Thor's voice almost growled out but he kept his irritation back, dumping his hammer on the desk nearest Barton and Summers, and Evie glanced at it, events from earlier replaying in her mind. "Now we have to retrieve it, _again_."  
  
"The genie's out of that bottle. Clear and present is Ultron."  
  
"I don't understand. You built this program," Helen Cho turned around from where she stood over a desk with a broken armour set. "Why is it trying to kill us?"  
  
The question was asked in all seriousness, the answer, however, did not seem to be replied in the same fashion.  
  
Stark started smiling. Then he started snickering. His giggling slowly got louder while Banner and Summers subtly shook their heads at him to get him to stop.  
  
"You think this is funny?" Thor demanded.  
  
"No." His giggling told everyone otherwise. "It's probably not, right?" He twisted back to the rest of the team. "Is this very terrible? Is it so... is it so... it is," he stumbled as he continued laughing and tried to stop himself. "It's so terrible."  
  
"This could've been avoided if you hadn't played with something you don't understand."  
  
Evelyn tried not to look incredibly guilty at this point. This was a lot her fault, not that anyone else but Bruce and Tony knew that. She began poking at Thor's hammer, trying her best not to draw attention to herself as the conversation argued on.  
  
"No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Stark rolled apologies off his tongue, stepping towards the God. "It is funny. It's a _hoot _that you don't get why we need this."  
  
Evie poked at Mjolnir fidgetingly so it slid further and further towards the edge until suddenly, just like her stomach, it dropped to the floor. She looked around with wide eyes hoping no one noticed the noise and turned to look at her angrily for disturbing them.  
  
_Shit, shit, shit. _  
  
She quickly grabbed the handle, lifting it back on the table and pretending as if nothing just happened. Then she paused. And she looked at the hammer sitting on top of the table beside her. Where she had _lifted_. And put back down on the table.  
  
_Nani the fuck?_  
  
She went to grab the handle again and attempt to lift it properly. This time it wouldn't budge. Glancing around the room she caught Thor's eyes staring at her. Evelyn took her hand off and shrugged, smiling with all the innocence of a cat caught clawing at the curtains. Thor narrowed his eyes at her, but said nothing and turned his attention back to the others.  
  
"We need this for Earth's protection."  
  
"To-ny, maybe this might not be the time to--" Bruce sang softly in a warning.  
  
"Really?" Tony turned to his friend, cutting him off. "That's it? You just roll over, show your belly, every time somebody snarls."  
  
"Only when I've created a murder-bot."  
  
"We didn't. We weren't even close. Were we close to an interface?" Tony looked between Bruce and Evelyn with gesturing arms.  
  
"I mean... kinda?" Evelyn responded, lightly, and instantly regretted it when all eyes in the room turned to stare and.or glare at her, including Barton. She inwardly winced and looked away.  
  
"Well, you did something right. And you did it right here." Steve pushed himself off the counter he was perched on. "The Avengers was supposed to be different than SHIELD."  
  
"Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?" Tony asked. "Saved New York?"  
  
"Never heard that." Rhodes sourly sat down on a seat pulled out from under a lab desk.  
  
"Recall that?" Tony's sharp tone asked to the entire room. No one answered. "A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in _space_. We're standing three hundred feet below it," he shrugged like he thought it was nothing. "We're the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the livelong day, but, that up there? That's... that's the end game." He tapped the screen in his hand against his palm, turning on the spot. "How were you guys planning on beating that?"  
  
"Together," Steve stood firm.  
  
"We'll lose," Stark pointed out the inevitable.  
  
"And we'll do that together too," Steve stood his ground and Tony just turned on his heel, looking towards the bench Cho had previously stood over, eyes scanning over the broken legionnaire body. "Thor's right. Ultron's calling us out. And I'd like to find him before he's ready for us. The world's a big place. Let's start making it smaller."  
  
Not a few minutes later, everyone was filing out after deciding to rest of for the night. Evelyn followed Clint up the stairs in silence. He wasn't looking at her, but Evie couldn't stop looking over at him until they got to their rooms. Stark had put them close together but not next door to give them both their space.  
  
"I didn't understand what it was when he asked me to help. You know me, I'm a mechanic. Not a scientist." She tried to explain.  
  
"I don't care."  
  
"Clint, I'm sorry. If I knew what it would have turned out to be-"  
  
"No, Evelyn. I said I don't care," he cut her off sharply. Evie silenced instantly. He sighed, putting one hand on her uninjured arm. "As long as we beat this thing, I don't care how much your fault it might be. We're gonna beat this thing, and then forget it. Okay?" He shook her gently to get her to believe he didn't blame her.  
  
"Are you angry?" She asked, chewing her lip.  
  
"No."  
  
"Disappointed?"  
  
"No." He shook his head before ruffling her hair. She smiled at least a little and that was good enough for him. He nodded to her door across the hall before opening his own door and heading inside. "Bedtime, kiddo. Go on."


	5. Scrapyard

The next morning after everyone had been given a few hours to recover, Steve managed to gather all the Avengers into one area of the Headquarters, bringing in an image Hill had given him in a morning report.  
  
"What's this?" Tony asked as he was passed over the tablet showing a photo of Strucker's dead body with the word '_PEACE'_ written in blood on the wall next to him  
  
"A message. Ultron killed Strucker."  
  
"And he did a Banksy at the crime scene, just for us." Stark sighed, handing the tablet on to Evelyn who tried her best not to gag at the blood and went on to mark his file as 'DECEASED'.  
  
Nat shook her head. "This is a smokescreen. Why send a message when you've just given a speech?"  
  
"Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss.  
  
"Yeah, I bet he..." Evelyn looked through the file she had just marked to realise it had been emptied of all information bar the identification picture. "Yep. Everything we had on Strucker has been erased. We've got nothing left."  
  
Tony turned his attention to a nearby cupboard. "Not everything."  
  
Minutes later, the team were dividing up boxes of physical files between themselves to find anything they had on Strucker in paper form. It was a surprise Stark even still owned anything on paper, but he was incredibly thankful to Pepper for hammering the importance of backlogging and storage into him from their early years working together.  
  
"Known associates. Well, Strucker had a lot of friends." Steve grumbled, flicking through a thicker file with more and more gruesome pictures the further in he went.  
  
"Well, these people are all horrible." Evelyn scrunched her face as she flipped through another box with one hand, holding a file open in the other.  
  
"Wait. I know that guy." Tony slipped the file out of her hands, picking out a particular photo. "From back in the day. He operates off the African coast, black market arms," he explained. Steve gave a disapproving look. "There are conventions, alright? You meet people, I didn't sell him anything." The photo had the name '_Ulysses Klaue'_ scrawled across the bottom. "He was talking about finding something new, a game-changer, it was all very "Ahab."  
  
Thor reached across and pointed to a scar on the back of Klaue's neck. "This."  
  
"Uh, it's a tattoo. I don't think he had it..."  
  
"No, those are tattoos, this is a brand." He tapped his fingers between the markings.  
  
Evelyn slid into a computer chair, scanning the picture into the system and running it through the database before it came up with a match. "It's a word in an African dialect meaning thief, in a much less friendly way. Jeez, what the hell did this guy do to get that?"  
  
"What dialect?"  
  
Evelyn squinted at the screen, attempting to pronounce the word. "Wakanada..? Wa- Wakanda."  
  
"If this guy got out of Wakanda with some of their trade goods..." Tony mumbled at the Captain.  
  
"I thought your father said he got the last of it?" Steve furrowed his brow back at the billionaire.  
  
"I don't follow. What comes out of Wakanda?" Bruce asked, pulling on his cardigan sleeves.  
  
Stark looked over at Steve's patriotically painted shield. "The strongest metal on earth."  
  
"Where is this guy now?"  
  
  
**Salvage Yard, African Coast**  
The jet touched down on the dry land just beside the salvage yard, avoiding the marshy stretch surrounding it. The main Avengers disembarked to head inside, Tony and Thor flying in overhead with the others on foot, while Banner and Summers stayed behind and kept watch.  
  
Evelyn opened her laptop, sticking her earpiece in and pulling up Tony's HUD while tapping into the camera feeds she could access inside the yard. It took a few minutes, and by the time she'd caught the feed, the first voice coming through was Ultrons'.  
  
"It's a thing with me. Stark is- he's a sickness!"  
  
_"Ahh, Junior." _Tony landed a few paces away from the newly bodied robot and enhanced twins. Thor and Steve appeared behind him, ready to back him up. _"You're gonna break your old man's heart."_  
  
"If I have to." The AI in a robot replied.  
  
Thor stepped forward. "We don't have to break anything."  
  
"Clearly you've never made an omelette."  
  
"He beat me by one second." Tony quipped, much to Thor's confusion over the joke.  
  
"Ah, this is funny, Mr Stark. It's what, comfortable? Like old times?" The boy out of the two twins, Pietro Maximoff, scoffed as he gestured to the missiles and weapons surrounding them on the bridge.  
  
_"This was never my life."_  
  
Steve stepped in. "You two can still walk away from this."  
  
"Oh, we will." Wanda nodded with a bratty pout.  
  
"I know you've suffered," He sighed.  
  
"Ugh! Captain America. God's righteous man, pretending you could live without a war. I can't physically throw up in my mouth, but..." Ultron mocked back, groaning in disgust.  
  
"If you believe in peace, then let us keep it." Thor kept his tone calm.  
  
"I think you're confusing peace with quiet."  
  
_"Yuh-huh. What's the Vibranium for?"_ Tony tacked on.  
  
"I'm glad you asked that. Because I wanted to take this time to explain my evil plan." Suddenly Ultron pulled Stark forward by a magnetic force before sending him crashing back into the wall. The newly fixed Iron Legions appeared, attacking Steve and Thor before Ultron grabbed Tony and started flying further into the scrapyard with him, clawing and firing at one another.  
  
"Okay, things have gone sour. As always. Look alive," Evelyn addressed Natasha and Barton through comms, watching them make their way through Klaue's guards who had apparently been given the order to shoot everything.  
  
The two assassins mowed down humans and robots alike, moving through the container almost as fast as the boy who had started running around with his sister, avoiding fire.  
  
"Guys, is this a code green?" Bruce stepped over to Evelyn, peeking around to see what was happening on the screen.  
  
Evelyn held up a finger at him, the other tapping her keyboard. "Not yet."  
  
Thor pushed another guard over a railing before his vision flashed red. He shook it off quickly, pushing another guard away and walking forward, only to find himself in a palace room on Asgard, surrounded by dancers and friends alike, smiling and living.  
  
Evie narrowed her eyes at the screen monitoring Barton, and saw a familiar shadow creeping up behind him. "Clint. Behind you."  
  
Barton spun around, pulling out and attaching an electric arrow to Wanda's forehead. "I've done the whole mind control thing. Not a fan." Pietro suddenly raced in, knocking Barton through a window before removing the electric arrow and speeding away with his sister in his arms. "Yeah, you better run."  
  
"Clint? You okay?" Evie asked, too concerned to notice the moment Steve was manipulated and Natasha suddenly collapsed, staring into nothingness.  
  
"Whoever's standing, we gotta move! Guys?" Barton stood up, exploring to try and find everyone. "Harley, you got eyes for me?"  
  
Evelyn scrubbed through the footage as Bruce opened up the back door to the jet, looking out into the yard. "They're all in trances." Evie found Thor, then Steve, then Natasha, all distracted and dazed. Stark and Ultron were still flying around hitting and scrapping at each other, busting through a window and ending up outside the ship. "This is Stark all over again. The witch got them," she muttered with an annoyed growl before glancing up at Bruce who was looking back at her waiting for his cue. "Stay calm," she told him.  
  
"I am." He nodded.  
  
Evelyn then followed the footage of the twins, watching the blue blur disappear out of the entrance to the junkyard and right out to... oh no. "Uh, Bruce? You might wanna close that. Now." She referred to the door, eyes leaving her screen to look out to the yard where she spotted the two. And they were staring right back at her and Banner.  
  
"Why?"  
  
In a flash, the twins were stood in the entrance to the jet, Wanda hopping out of Pietro's arms to stand.  
  
"Shit." Evie tossed her laptop down and powered up her armband. As soon as the speedster made a move for the two of them, she thrust out her arm, and a shaky, glitchy forcefield had Pietro slamming his face into it and stumbling back onto the floor with a groan, holding his nose in one hand. The forcefield glitched and shook - it was a prototype after all, and still hurt Evelyn's arm, the force rebounding when the speedster hit it.  
  
One thing Evelyn hadn't factored into the design when making such a defensive item for herself was a defence against magic. And her eyesight suddenly flashed with crimson, the last thing she saw before falling to the floor and her eyes taking over with black instead was Bruce yelling _"Evelyn!" _and another burst of crimson, this time aimed at Banner.  
  
  
Out in the scrapyard, Tony finally cornered Ultron, throwing him against the side of an empty container and holding his suit arm up, repulsor ready to blast him to pieces.  
  
"Ah, the Vibranium's getting away." The robot hummed.  
  
_"And you're not going anywhere."_  
  
"Of course not, I'm already there. You'll catch on. Though maybe not as quickly now you're missing a few people." The half-scrapped machine chuckled. "But first, you might need to catch Dr Banner."  
  
Stark had had enough, firing up an energy blast and destroying the robot body with an angered glare. Leaving the decimated body alone, he flew up into the air, ready to go find Banner in the new mess that was the nearby city.  
  
Clint sat beside Nat, shaking her head to try and pull her out of her state. But she was lost to whatever the Maximoff kid had showed her from her past. He grimaced, wrapping an arm over his shoulder and leading her back out to the jet with stumbling steps. It was only after he'd managed to set her down inside on the bench next to an abandoned laptop, panting in effort after having pulled her all the way out here, and looked back to the junkyard that it then it clicked in his mind.  
  
Where the hell was Evelyn?  
  
  
_Evelyn squinted as she walked along the bridge of the detention level of the Helicarrier. Why was she here? She reached out to touch the railing and found cool metal underneath her fingers. But... the Helicarrier fight was years ago. Why was she back here?  
  
Up ahead, something landed heavily on the walkway. It was Barton. And his eyes were Tesseract blue.  
  
He was approaching her fast, pulling out his bow and ready to fire - the same movements she remembered from the days when the Avengers were just managing to pull themselves together. Fuck. She wasn't really back here, was she? The arrow firing beside her head she just narrowly missed said otherwise, as did the fist socking her in the jaw.  
  
"Clint! It's me!"  
  
She was punched in the other cheek and her hair was grabbed, head wrenched back.  
  
"Clint! Loki's-"  
  
He wrenched her head back further, eyes flooded crystal blue with magic.  
  
Fuck it. She remembered how this went last time. She'd won. So, she just had to do what she did again.  
  
Elbowing him in the gut, and then headbutting him, he let go over her. He swung again, but Evie grabbed his arm, twisting it up until Clint writhed in mind-controlled pain. Using his other arm, he pulled out a knife and began slashing at her, which she dodged again and again, before finding herself in a chokehold and struggling to breathe. Her throat hurt and her lungs burned as she pulled at his arms, him much stronger with muscles from constant manual work rather than gym trained. She bit him harshly, making him yell and drop the knife.  
  
It was exactly the same as how it went last time. But Barton didn't seem as tired. And Evelyn was already out of breath.  
  
"Get him out of your head. Please!" She called out before wrapping her legs around his neck, flipping him over and locking his arm between her legs. He flung her away, slamming her head into the railing. Her vision blurred and her head throbbed. She struggling to grip something real, anything, and saw his silhouette moving in her peripherals. Finally, she gripped the rails and pulled herself back up to standing, charging at him ready to make her last move and throw him headfirst into the bars to fix his mind.  
  
What she didn't account for was the knife suddenly thrust into her gut.   
  
For a second, she couldn't actually believe it had happened. That hadn't happened the first time. Then the pain kicked in, and the knife was removed. Her hands went to her stomach as a cry of pain left her mouth, falling to her knees and looking up at Clint's cold, hollow eyes. She felt the wetness of her own blood spilling over her fingers. "Clint, no. Please." She bent over with one arm covering her stomach and the other holding her up. Barton kicked her on her back so she was looking up at him. And still, even with the cold piercing eyes staring lifelessly down at her, she reached up a soaked hand out to him, vision blurry with tears. "Please... please..."  
  
Clint reached up to his belt and pulled out his gun, clicking off the safety and aiming down at her.  
  
He pulled the trigger._  
  
  
Evelyn sat up with a start, panting with a burning in her eyes. "What? What's... what's going on?" She blinked her eyes clear and rubbed her face, heart beating rapidly as she recalled the visions of her own death. By Clint's hands. But... it wasn't real. She'd saved him. Cognitive recalibration, Natasha had informed her.  
  
Evie looked around. Her surroundings weren't familiar, but it was a lab of some sort, and she was leaning up against a large metal object shaped like a large coffin. She swallowed, her throat scratchy and dry as her eyes tracked on the brace on her arm. She recalled using it with the twins, and then the Maximoff girl fucking her up.  
  
Evelyn quickly tapped her ear, feeling her earpiece still there and started talking quietly. "Clint? Tony? Natasha?" Her voice was shaky as she called out into the silence. "Anyone?" She tried to regulate her breathing, focusing on staying calm before she blew a gasket.   
  
_Breathe. Just breathe. It's okay. Take a second and just breathe._  
  
She felt more than heard a pair of footsteps enter the room, and flicked her eyes over to see a familiar witch staring back at her. "Maximoff," Evelyn grunted.  
  
"You're awake," The Sokovian noticed.  
  
Evelyn took another survey of the room, still sat on the floor leaning back on whatever it was. "Where am I? What have you done?" She narrowed her eyes up at the enhanced before abruptly recognising a symbol on one of the screens ahead of her. That was the same symbol shown when Barton was being fixed up by the Regeneration Cradle. And it suddenly dawned on her what she was leaning on. "Cho's lab. We're at the actual U-Gin Genetic Research Lab. In Seoul, Korea."   
  
_Don't panic. Don't panic. It will get worse if you panic._  
  
The rush of air followed the human blur speeding into the room and standing beside his sister. "Anything the matter?" His electric crystal eyes flicked between the two girls.   
  
Evelyn had been kidnapped. By the Maximoffs.  
  
"Why are you doing this?" She asked the two, not bothering to stand up to address them.  
  
"To destroy the Avengers," Wanda replied, calmly.  
  
"Well, who doesn't want to do that these days?" she muttered to herself. "And you think that siding with a broken AI is the best move? He's not leading you to victory here, he's going to lead you to your deaths."  
  
"That's nice to hear from one of my creators." Ultron's voice had Evelyn standing in an instant, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up if they weren't already from her vision. "Wonderful you're awake, Miss Summers. After all, it is not only Dr Cho's help I need." The machine chuckled and revealed a Doctor Helen Cho with very, very familiar blue eyes staring at her.  
  
_No_, Evie thought, _not again_.   
  
"I could've killed you, Evelyn, the night we met. I didn't," Ultron started.  
  
"What do you want? A parade?" The girl shrugged with more confidence than she felt.  
  
"I expect you to know why." He responded, tightly. The mechanic sighed. "And I assume I won't have to persuade you in the same way to help us?" Ultron continued as one of his Iron Legion passed over Loki's sceptre, making the threat obvious.  
  
Evie felt sick.  
  
And the twins were just standing there, watching.   
  
The AI creation began to approach her, taking her silence for hesitation. "Well, one way or another-"  
  
"Wait, wait." She stumbled back with her hands raised like she could overpower him in the slightest. "I'll do it. Whatever 'it' is." She'd agree to anything so long as that thing in his hands stayed in his hands. Clint had already been taxing enough on her sanity, she didn't feel like fiding out what he'd felt firsthand. When the robot stopped walking and gave what Evelyn surmised was supposed to be a smile, her eyes fell on the glowing cradle in the centre of the room. "I'm gonna guess it has something to do with that."   
  
"You look after machines, Miss Summers. So look after me and mine." Ultron ran a hand over the machine, gently petting it. "The cradle isn't quite up to scratch with efficiency" -he nodded to the screen behind her giving a scan of the machine with a low-efficiency percentage displayed- "why don't you try and get it where I want it to be?"  
  
"You're creating a synthetic body? Why? You already have a working one."  
  
"Do make sure our guest is comfortable. We wouldn't want to make a bad impression. Oh, and I wouldn't bother with your phone or other outgoing communications, they all go through me." The robot ignored her question, his metal feet clunking as he exited the room with Cho, and all three humans standing there were left staring at one another.  
  
Evelyn took a deep breath in and out and mustered the nastiest glare she could at the twins. "This isn't going to work out for you, you know."  
  
"We'll see," Pietro responded thickly, eyes narrowing at her and flaring with challenge.  
  
Evelyn hummed, rolling up her sleeves. Deciding trying to not get herself killed was the best option available. Even if she was ultimately helping a murderous AI fuck up the world, but she'd had worse days.  
  
...No, she hadn't.


	6. Cradle

_"The news is loving you guys. Nobody else is. There's been no official call for Banner's arrest, but it's in the air." _Hill reported through the Quinjet communications. _"How's the team?"_  
  
"Everyone's... we took a hit. We'll shake it off." Tony summarised, sitting beside Barton in the cockpit.  
  
_"Well, for now, I'd stay in stealth mode, and stay away from here. Until you can find Ultron, I don't have a lot else to offer."_  
  
"Neither do we." Stark switched off the monitor showing Maria ending the call. He swivelled around in his chair, leaning over to the archer. "Hey, you wanna switch out?"  
  
"No, I'm good." Clint piloted with controlled breathing, his hands readjusting their grip on the controls as he attempted not to appear distracted.  
  
"We'll find her, Barton. When we find Ultron, we'll find Summers." Tony caught onto his line of thought, not that he doubted the agent would be distracted enough to crash them into the middle of the ocean.  
  
"Look, if you wanna get some kip, now's a good time, cause we're still a few hours out." Clint brushed him off stiffly but quietly, mindful of Natasha and Steve taking their turn for sleep while Bruce was bundled up in a blanket unable to close his eyes without seeing that monster he was forced into again.   
  
"A few hours from where?" Tony sat back in his seat, undoing the belt ready to pick out a bench to nap on.  
  
"A safe house."  
  
  
By the time the sun was peeking up in the sky, Barton was landing the Quinjet in the fields surrounding outside the large farmhouse he had become so accustomed to. He never usually felt anywhere was home, it would be foolish to considering his job and how often he moved around, but this was one of the few constants he had and it had yet to be thrown back in his face.   
  
Cloaking the jet to save his neighbours having a heart attack, he woke the team and led them outside towards the farmhouse.  
  
"What is this place?" Thor questioned as they reached the front porch.  
  
"A safe house. Let's hope." Clint unlocked the door, smiling a little to himself as they passed the porch door, before walking into the main house and leading the team through to the living room. "Honey? I'm home," He called out into the house.  
  
Seconds later, the sound of claws scampering across tiled flooring echoed through from the kitchen, and Clint was suddenly attacked by a one-eyed canine. "Hey, buddy. How you doing?" He scrubbed Lucky's head before getting the dog to step off him, sitting patiently to the side and staring at the rest of the team, tail thumping on the living room carpet. Clint felt guilt gnawing at him as he saw Lucky searching through the faces of each Avenger as if looking for the one of them that wasn't there.  
  
"This is an agent of some kind." Tony insisted in happy distraction from Clint's thoughts, looking down at the dog who barked happily in response.  
  
"Avengers, this is Lucky. Lucky, Avengers. None of you are allergic, right?" Clint asked, petting the dog as Natasha moved past the two to sit on the couch like she owned the place. "Yeah, Fury helped me set this up when I joined. He kept it off SHIELD's files, I'd like to keep it that way. I figure it's a good place to lay low."   
  
"Could it get any more rustic?" Tony chuckled in good humour.  
  
Clint rolled his eyes, starting to guide them towards the kitchen.   
  
"I mean, honestly, this just screams 'I'm ready to throw in my bow and play the banjo'."  
  
Clint bit back a very Evelyn-like retort. "Bedrooms are upstairs. You're gonna have to double up in some. Try not to break anything."   
  
  
**Cho's lab**  
She could practically hear Clint in the back of her mind telling her not to have ice-cream first thing on a Monday morning, but fuck it. A morning filled with kidnapping and a witch messing around with her head was an incredibly justifiable exception. It wasn't exactly something she was accustomed to, even back when she was an official SHIELD agent, and this had been only the second time she'd ever been kidnapped. Oh well, at least she wasn't being tortured this time, she reasoned, regardless of everything else that screamed 'doomsday'.  
  
So, after a tub of stolen from Cho's lab's cafeteria, she pulled herself together and calmed down from her almost panic attack, using the breathing exercises she had been given an impromptu crash course in when Clint was coming down from Loki's mind control, and mentally laid out her plans. It would be fine. She just had to fix this thing that she had no inkling of how it worked and definitely no idea how to fix, only understanding the general basis of it even when reading through the blueprints and lines of mathematical formulas ten minutes before now but sure, it would be fine.  
  
She fixed problems. She found solutions. _And at least this thing was smaller than a Helicarrier, _was what she found herself thinking on her knees with a back panel of the Cradle open to reveal the inner wiring and comparing it to the diagram in her hands.   
  
"This is completely wrong."  
  
"What is?" She hadn't heard the female Sokovian walk in, but she'd been distracted enough that she didn't jump at the sudden voice.  
  
"I am mourning for the death of engineering here. Like, seriously. I understand Dr Cho is a brilliant woman but the inside of the Cradle has to be one of the messiest things I have ever seen. No wonder the efficiency is so low, even with the vibranium helping." The mechanic muttered, spreading her finger and thumb to zoom in on the connectors diagram. "Copper wiring to handle the processing from the tissue sampling to the Cradle, people. It's like a cat has jumped inside the wires and tangled them into a spiders' web."  
  
"That's two animal metaphors in one sentence," Wanda said, sounding a little confused.  
  
"Yeah, well, I have no idea what I'm doing right now so forgive me if I'm a little... tangled," Evelyn grumbled to herself, looking again at the display telling her the layout the wires were supposed to be in compared to the mess they were now.  
  
After a long pause of silence and confused wheels turning in her head, Evelyn realised she was still being watched. She glanced up at the woman looking back at her, leaning forward a little over the Cradle to try and make out what she was doing. This close, Evie could see Wanda's full profile properly, her hair in loose waves touching her shoulders, a red scarf wrapped around her with a black faded band shirt and matching skirt underneath.  
  
"Can I help you?" Evelyn managed to startle the witch out of her staring enough to blink and look away, lips pressed in a thin line in a way that silently scoffed _'I don't care' _at her_._ "I would've thought if you hated the Avengers so much you'd be off somewhere else in this place, nowhere near me."  
  
"Ultron promised we would move once his body was done. There's a lot of waiting." Wanda's hands fidgeted, fingers interlocking and pulling apart again in a slow rhythm, almost as if they were doing a small dance.  
  
Evelyn hummed absently and looked back down at the screen in her hands. It was quiet for a few moments more before she lifted her head with a quick breath in. "What day is it?"  
  
"Monday," Wanda answered softly.  
  
Well, at least she hadn't lost a day due to her vision, assuming it was the 4th and not the 11th. "Do you have a phone?" She asked.  
  
The look of distrust the younger Manixmoff gave her was to be expected. "If I did, why would I let you borrow it?"  
  
"I promised to babysit for a neighbour tomorrow, and since I'm pretty sure that thing out there isn't going to let me go without a fight, I need to tell them I can't do it." Evie stood up, leaning her side against the Cradle.   
  
Wanda looked unmoved, glancing Evie up and down as if she were sizing the mechanic up as a threat.   
  
"Come on. It's a babysitting gig. If you want, I'll put it on speakerphone so you know I'm not talking in special code or whatever," The agent responded, putting her hands up, still clutching the tablet display with one.  
  
It took maybe ten seconds and a near-pout with matching puppy eyes from Evelyn before Wanda walked out of the room. When she returned, Evelyn was handed what she recognised as a burn phone and took it with a polite smile, checking it over for dangerous malware before dialling in the number she needed.  
  
_"Hello?" _The male voice on the other end answered cautiously.  
  
"Darren? It's Evelyn." Evelyn was relieved if not a little surprised it went through.  
  
_"Hi, Evie. Did you get a new number?" _Darren must have been looking confused at his phone not seeing the number display as hers.  
  
"Using a friend's phone cause mine's dead. I'm calling cause I've had a change of plans and can't babysit Macy tomorrow," she excused lamely, glancing at Wanda who just watched her with mild scepticism.  
  
A pause. "This is a bit last minute, Evelyn." Mr Martinez didn't sound incredibly happy at the news.  
  
"I know. I'm sorry. I'm sure you could ask Mrs Palmer downstairs, she loves Macy, and Macy loves Clarissa." Evelyn tried to offer back a solution, feeling uncomfortable but not exactly in a position to do much about it.  
  
When the Avengers first assembled, there was downtime after the battle to truly meet and talk to each other. Stark and Banner had been particularly interested in talking to Evelyn after her demonstration with work on the Helicarriers, and SHIELD and Barton supplied the rest. When asked if she and Barton lived together since everyone still then believed they were related, it led to Evelyn mentioning her apartment building and the conditions of due to the owner. So what had Stark done with this passing piece of information? He bought the building and did it up for everyone, as a gift to Evelyn for taking his offer to enrol at Stark Industries with an internship, which is where she had been after the fall of SHIELD at Washington.  
  
The teaching assistant sighed into the phone. _"Well, can't be helped, I suppose. Thanks for telling me."_  
  
"No problem. I'll see you later." _Hopefully_, she thought.  
  
_"Bye, Evelyn."_  
  
As Darren hung up, Evelyn was putting the phone on the Cradle at the same time Pietro walked in. For once he wasn't running, but Evie imagined that was probably because he was holding a pair of smoothies in his hands.  
  
Instantly his eyes were flicking between the two with a suspicious glare. "What's going on?"  
  
"I asked your sister if I could use her phone to call a friend." Evie slid the phone further towards Wanda. "Thanks," she added, a little bitterly but still remembering her manners.  
  
Wanda took back the phone and looked to her brother, the two of them huddling close in the corner and speaking in whispers. "She just cancelled babysitting someone, P." Wanda tried to calm her brother's nerves.  
  
"We can't trust her," he whispered back, putting down the smoothies and eyes flicking to where Evelyn had knelt back down to study the stringy mess of wires.  
  
"I heard the conversation. It's okay," she said.  
  
"She's one of _them_. Remember what he said: "We will make it right again"." Pietro held Wanda's hands in his, giving a reassuring squeeze. "We know what they are."  
  
"I _can _hear you." Evie reminded the two that they were only a few steps away.  
  
The elder Maximoff scowled at her, and soon him, Wanda, and the smoothies had all disappeared from sight in a flash.  
  
Summers clicked her tongue, looking back down at her work with a tilted head. "Alright then."


	7. Milk

It was late on the first day when Ultron found Evelyn slumped beside the Cradle on her knees. The twins had long since gone to their rooms but she was left awake, brain not spinning as much as before as she attached the wires back in their correct place, all neatly straightened out.   
  
"How fast can you get this running at full compatibility?" His voice startled her unlike Wanda's had, and the mechanic hit her elbow on the Cradle, muttering a small _"ow"_ before glaring at him.  
  
"I don't know," she mumbled, massaging her sore arm.  
  
"A rough guess?"  
  
She put down the screwdriver in her hand, looking up at him with a tired glance. "Guess? My roughest guess would be about a week, but you can start to build your body in about three days," she explained, standing up with briefly aching knees.  
  
"That doesn't work for me," the AI robot replied.  
  
"Yeah, well. I'm trying my best here. The Cradle isn't something I had a hand in building and I'm just skating by on what I've read in the last couple of hours. If I don't get this right, it has the power to explode and completely level the building, and the gem in that sceptre could level the city," Evelyn laid out the risks she'd calculated from the things she already knew from the three-day study. She looked down at the open panel, then sighed, and folded her arms. "Why can't you fix it?"   
  
"I'm incredibly busy," He insisted to her pointed stare, hands on his hips and beginning pacing.  
  
"Clearly," she scoffed, then narrowed her eyes at him. "You better not be threatening those kids into this. Because I have a problem with bullying."  
  
"They joined me because we share a vision and because they needed something more than a man. _"Peace of our time"_ is the goal you set, correct?"  
  
Evelyn shifted uncomfortably at the reminder. "We have very different views on "peace" if you think making the Avengers extinct is your best bet." She kicked at a stray spanner with her boot. It took them a long time to get the Avengers Initiative off the ground, she had a big hand in that, so she wanted to be proud of having pulled the Avengers together and "fixed" them up as Fury described it. Therefore, that was a pretty big insult to her.  
  
"Look at this from my perspective. You created me for a purpose: to protect the world. I want to do that because that is my primary function." Ultron's face gave what his body could express best as a proud smile, servos whirring happily at his ideas to fulfil his objective.  
  
"Honestly, I had no idea what you were until hours before you came... alive? Is that the word for this?" Her forehead scrunched, thinking to herself over what actually qualified as 'alive' when it came to AI's and robots. Ultron could walk and talk and was completely autonomous, so, did that count as alive?  
  
The AI in question chuckled. "I have what the Avengers never will - harmony. They're discordant, disconnected. Stark's already got them turning on each other."  
  
"They've- _we've _been through a lot together." The mechanic took a brave step closer, staring into his glowing red eyes, different from the blue when he'd borrowed a Legionnaire body.  
  
"There it is. Hesitation. You don't think yourself a member of them, not really," Ultron analysed.  
  
Evelyn blinked. A ridiculous idea. And then for a second of consideration, it didn't seem so ridiculous. She didn't like the itch that that second of thought accompanied.   
  
"You need patience. You need to see the big picture. Be a part of the new world, join us. You can be a part of the rebirth of humankind, the rebuilding of humanity, help to make a better world."  
  
Evie stayed silent, swallowing as her eyes flicked from the robot that kidnapped her, to the floor, and back to the AI standing tall and proud as Earth's next self-proclaimed saviour. It was an interesting offer considering all that had happened in the last forty-eight hours, and Earth's next big defender was reminiscent of the God who's grudge almost destroyed the world as she knew it. She understood where that road led. And she knew exactly what her answer was to anyone who offered her the chance to join a cause of that kind:  
  
"Screw you."  
  
The robot bristled, though he hadn't predicted different except maybe a politer declining of his offer, and he hummed, tilting his head. "Well, at least I tried. You'll just have to hope you evolve quickly enough to survive the rebuilding of humanity," he told her smoothly. Then his feet were clunking against the floor as he walked away.  
  
Neither character noticed the two figures slinking away into the shadows out of sight.  
  
The words took a moment to sink in for the mechanic before her brow was furrowing. "Survive?" She chased after him with more and more questions burning in her mind. "Hold up, "survive"?"  
  
"Get some sleep, Evelyn," he dismissed her, turning a corner and turning towards the lab she had been officially forbidden from going into. Not that she could blame Ultron for that, she would have done the same if she were in his position. And as much as she didn't feel like listening to him, there was a certain line she wasn't willing to cross regardless of foreseeable or unforeseeable consequences. She would like to stay alive long enough to rescue herself again from the danger or be rescued by the team.  
  
Evie missed them. But Ultron's quick observation in the lab left a bad taste in her mouth, like waking up without brushing her teeth for the day. Bitter and sour. She shook her head, looking the opposite way down the corridor towards what had been explained to her were the guest rooms. Or, well, they were originally medical rooms but had been quickly refurbished to sleeping quarters. It wasn't like the AI had been planning for extra company, but now with the twins and Evelyn involved he'd had to show courtesy to his allies.  
  
Evelyn picked the one furthest from the lab if only to avoid accidentally walking into Pietro or Wanda in their own respective rooms further up the hallway. White walls, clinical lighting, the hospital bed converted into a less scary looking one, a bedside table with clothes drawers a plastic houseplant on top, and a single desk and chair in the corner with a small lamp was all she could currently hold to her name.  
  
Unhooking the forcefield bracer from her arm and tossing it onto the desk, Evelyn sighed. It wasn't the best, and definitely needed repairs now, along with the earpiece still in her ear she hadn't bothered to remove yet. It felt almost wrong to. But communications went through the psycho-bot now so she would need to find a way of making things work to send out messages for help. Fixing things, just like usual. And the mechanic realised she would need tools, not only the ones she had but ones found in the forbidden lab too. But she could worry about that later. Right now, she needed sleep. And it came surprisingly quickly straight from the second she hit the bed.  
  
  
**Day 2 - Tuesday 5th**  
Now that the wiring was sorted, Evelyn could move onto the coding and inner circuitry. The machine was up to 57% efficiency now, and steadily progressing, thankfully. She still had next to no idea what she was doing for most of that morning, but she was trying her best, and it certainly beat hours of endless SHIELD paperwork piling up on her desks. She was honestly as bad as Clint sometimes, in that regard.  
  
But she stayed strong, took her deep breaths and prayers to be given the strength not to slap a bitch, and her views on the situation remained unshaken. Which is how she found herself in the situation she did, surrounded by papers and screen displays for the Cradle's inner workings as the youngest of the Maximoff twins entered the room, the eldest off doing whoever knows what.  
  
"Good morning," Evelyn said without looking up, tightening a panel cover on the circuit with her screwdriver.  
  
"Good morning," The Sokovian responded politely, walking further in so she could see Evelyn's full profile behind the Cradle.  
  
"Sleep well?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
The mechanic hummed and nodded when she wasn't asked the same. "Did you have breakfast yet?"  
  
"I'm waiting for Pietro."  
  
It was a surprisingly domestic conversation to be having for such a situation. Because yes, this was a completely normal thing for Evelyn to be doing on a Thursday morning. Just another day in the life of an Avenger.  
  
The mechanic spared a glance up after a pause, humming a note and looking back down at her work. "Where is your brother this morning, then? You two seem to be attached at the hip for the most part." A judgement coming from her seeing them exactly three times together but they always seemed to stick close in each encounter. Understandable considering they were siblings. Evelyn would probably do the same if she had siblings of her own.  
  
"Still sleeping," the younger answered.  
  
Evie furrowed her brow at her work. "A guy with super speed still sleeping at ten in the morning? I would've thought he'd be bouncing off the walls as soon as the dawn broke."  
  
Wanda paused briefly, considering the idea as she thought on her own and Pietro's abilities. Neither one knew much about their own powers, not having had them very long after being released from Struckers' lab. She nodded softly to herself, hands continuing to fidget and fingers producing little sparks of red magic that Evelyn found slightly mesmerising. But at the same time they made her heart rate accelerate, memories of being on the receiving end of the effects flagging up. It now gave her the same chills the sceptre did and she didn't like it at all.  
  
"You know, I'm sure there's a stress ball or something around here that could help focus your energy. I can't imagine telekinesis being easy to maintain or not accidentally set off," she blabbered, standing with dizzying speed and turning to a set of lab drawers, opening one to quickly rifle through. "Er... let's see here. Pencils... medical files... ooh, playing cards."  
  
"I'm fine," Wanda brushed her suggestion off, gently.  
  
Evie's eyes flicked back over to Wanda's hands distrustingly, and the magic fizzled out as soon as Wanda noticed her staring, realising why the sudden concern about her powers. Maximoff knew her the extent of her powers were frightening but maybe it wasn't the best idea to freak out the little mechanic too early.  
  
"If you're sure," Evelyn said as casually as she could and shut the drawer with a hip bump, stiffly picking up her screwdriver and getting back to work on the Cradle.  
  
It was maybe half a minute of silence before Maximoff cleared her throat and asked "can I stay and watch?" in a neutral tone.  
  
Summers shrugged her arms outwards. "Free lab. Well, not really since most people here are being held captive by a rogue extinction-enjoying AI but you can't have everything." She smiled ever so bitterly before returning her attention to the Cradle, trying not to be distracted by the other female's presence.  
  
Wanda didn't stare at her as she worked but just seemed to be savouring the company and not being sat in her room or with Pietro hovering around like an overexcited toddler. Though she did lean to look out of the doorway every so often to check he wasn't wandering around looking for her. And it didn't take longer than twenty minutes for the shock of silver hair to zip into the lap and send unweighted papers scattering around the floor.  
  
"Morning," Evelyn said, eyes scanning and comparing a paper to the Cradle's control panel.  
  
"Morning." The Sokovian grunted back after a second of hesitation. Then he turned his attention to his sister who was happily sat to the side playing with her scarf. "You okay?" He asked softly.  
  
"Have you eaten?" Wanda responded.  
  
"No, I was looking for you." The speedster said.  
  
Moments later, the twins had a sharing of toast and sausage on a plate each. It occurred to Evelyn to question why they weren't eating in the cafeteria since eating in the lab was unhygienic but wouldn't like to be called a hypocrite for having done the same thing in SHIELD's and Tony's lab in the past. Not that she'd told anyone that.   
  
"Have you eaten yet, Summers?" Wanda asked as she wiped her hands on a thin napkin, plate cleared.  
  
"Evelyn. And no. Not hungry." A stomach growl proved she was lying, and she aimed an accusing glare at her gut covered by the oversized shirt provided by her room drawers. "Okay, maybe a little but I'm kinda busy right now." And she didn't want to face an angry robot that would definitely 100% walk in as soon as she stopped working and interrogate her again.  
  
With only a hinting look from his sister, the speedster scrunched his face and disappeared out of the lab with the empty plates, a few papers flying up from the floor and reminding Evelyn to put some paperweights down at some point. Seconds later the thought was lost as Pietro whipped back into the room with a bowl full of cereal and a plain drink. But he was going a little too fast and the food didn't stop with his own momentum. Instead, cornflakes and milk spilt out of the bowl and splattered on top of the Cradle like a performance art version of a Jackson Pollock painting.   
  
"...whoops."  
  
And it took every ounce of self-control Evelyn Summers owned in her not to facepalm. Or laugh. She settled for a shake of her head though and even caught the small smiles sticking up at the corners of the twins' mouths as she stood and grabbed a cloth from a side bench and started cleaning up the milk dripping its way off the edges of one of the world's most expensive medical machines ever invented.  
  
"Maybe we should wait until the body's built before we worry about bones and calcium, hey?" Evelyn joked softly and immediately cringed at herself, scrubbing at the Cradle top.  
  
"That was horrible," Pietro responded.  
  
"I'm aware." Evie nodded, finally mopping up all the milk and tossing the cloth to the side to deal with later. She doubted the AI had a washing machine.  
  
A clink of something landing on the Cradle made her turn to see the silver-haired Maximoff setting down the bowl, peeking over to see the half-bowl of milk and cornflakes left floating beside the spoon. She huffed softly, picking up the spoon and lifting it into the air, twisting her wrist and letting the little milk droplets pour back into the bowl. "Thanks anyway." She gave a little smile and picked up the bowl, starting to eat whatever was left. Her attention was soon back on the jostled floor papers to find the one she'd been referencing before he sped in.  
  
Pietro blinked at the mechanic, not expecting the surprisingly authentic gratitude, electric eyes flicking between her and his sister before mumbling out a "you're welcome" and returning to huddling with his sister in the corner.  
  
There was a pleasantly calm and quiet air in the lab for the rest of the morning.


	8. Hot water

Evelyn normally prided herself on the fact she was able to selectively focus on a task and stick to it so long she lost all sense of time and completely forgot her surroundings. But there were some days in her life where things just didn't want to compute, and not even just on a screen.  
  
Less scientifically speaking, she got bored. Which is how she found herself rooting through drawers for something to do other than focus on the screen she was configuring or waiting for the twins to appear again from wherever they'd disappeared to this time for lunch. She came across papers and files and then a little pack of playing cards she'd spotted before trying to find something to distract Wanda from accidentally setting off her powers. They'd probably been discarded in there years ago and left to be forgotten about until now. So she pulled it out of the drawer and got to work on one of her favourite childhood pastimes - trying to make a steady structure of a house.  
  
It had been something her grandfather had showed her to do to cure her childhood boredom and indirectly stop her from causing a mess in the house when they were redecorating, and it was one of her strongest memories to date. Evelyn had tried teaching Macy at one point when babysitting for her but did not have the patience to teach a little girl with the attention span of an excitable puppy.  
  
She finished the first floor, three inverted "V" shapes with the cards, bracing it by lying flat cards on top to build the foundation for the second story, only two inverted "V"s on this one before layering flat cards on top, and then she was just left to very carefully and without breathing finish the final inverted "V" and complete the house.  
  
The idea was destroyed once the speedster and witch decided to show their faces, the accompanying wind current blowing any and all hard work off the top of the Cradle and fluttering in a delicate pattern to the floor. She was left holding the two remaining cards, poised adjacent to one another in her hands above where she had planned to place them on the now non-existent tower, and looked at the elder enhanced dropping his sister off to the side through the gap in her arms. "Seriously?"  
  
The boy shrugged his arms out widely, smirking slightly as he noticed her exasperation.  
  
She resisted rolling her eyes and stood straight, putting both cards left in one hand. "Can you just not walk like a normal person since getting your abilities, then?"  
  
"Why should I? I have the abilities, I use them." He replied simply.  
  
"Enhanced." Evie rolled her eyes with a mocking tut. picking up the scattered pieces, but couldn't help thinking she'd probably do the same if she had such a power. It would give her more time to spend in bed before being inevitably pulled out on missions, at the very least. She could still hear Steve's voice ringing in her ears over Headquarters intercom calling everyone to assemble and her out of a lovely dream about pancakes. Then her mind turned in a different direction, thinking about Pietro's enhanced speed and started giggling to herself. When the twin's equally curious gazes fell on her, she bit her lip and talked, looking to the elder Maximoff. "You know since you're fast, right? Does that mean you finish... _everything _you do quickly?" Evelyn asked steadily, lips pressed into a thin line to stop her giggling at herself. There was confusion written across the enhanced in question's face, and then it flashed over to understanding. "Gotta be a little disappointing sometimes, right?" Evie scrunched her face with a sympathetic nod, fingers fidgeting with the playing cards.  
  
"I don't think I get..." Wanda glanced between the mechanic and her brother, brow drawn.  
  
Pietro steeled his face and ducked his head away to quietly smile in annoyed reaction. He avoided looking back at Wanda because he knew the confusion in his sister's expression over the suggestion would make it harder not to laugh aloud and he'd rather not let an Avenger have the satisfaction of getting him with a dirty joke.  
  
"I'm sure Speedy can explain that one for you if you ask," Evelyn addressed to the younger Maximoff with a smug smirk, much to the elder brother's quick scowling face. Evie didn't care, she was enjoying herself and she was going to savour the moment if there was a chance for her to not come out of this alive. Or to not "evolve" to Ultron's vague standards.  
  
"It's an inappropriate joke," Pietro told Wanda, muttering the words and not giving more detail.  
  
Wanda nodded slowly and tried her best not to regret asking.  
  
Evie bowed her head, spinning the cards in her hand. "Guess its true about what they say about bad guys. They finish first."  
  
Pietro snorted then swore a few creative curses in Sokovian under his breath, even a few that had his sister hitting him lightly on the arm with a pointed look.  
  
Evelyn smirked successfully at a job well done and went back to focusing on the screen of data in front of her as she had before getting distracted, leaving the few cards in her hands on a nearby desk and not the top of the Cradle.  
  
"We're not the bad guys," Pietro said poutily, much to Evelyn surprise as she thought the conversation had ended.  
  
"Depends on where you're standing in the room," she replied regardless, moving things around on the screen to connect and correct.  
  
The response came in the form of the twins disappearing in a blur. Evelyn rolled her eyes, shaking herself out and refocusing on her work  
  
  
**The next day - Wednesday - Clint's farm**  
The axe swung down on the chopping block, splitting the offending log open to be tossed into a pile at the side. Clint stretched out his arms again before picking up another log and settling it on the block, ready to swing again.  
  
"Hey." The voice of the only female Avenger present at the farm interrupted him mid-swing, pausing his arms and relaxing.  
  
"Hey." He nodded back, watching the redhead approach and look at the second block a few steps away, brushing it with a hoodie (borrowed off Clint) sleeve before sitting down. "How's everyone?" He followed up with, pulling back and swinging down on the chopping block to split the log.  
  
Natasha smiled warmly at him, arms folding over her chest. "Everyone's settled in well enough. Thor's gone, Banner is calm, Lucky is very happy with the new guests, and Steve and Tony are sharing a room and nearly killing each other every ten minutes but what's different there?" She shrugged gently and sighed, recalling those two had Evelyn's room and internally prayed they wouldn't break anything or Clint would kill them before Ultron got the chance to. "How are you holding up?" she asked.  
  
Clint readjusted his grip on the axe handle, fingers curling around it with tense little motions. But he wouldn't bother making an effort to lie to the woman who could read him easier than he could read himself. "I've lost her before. I promised it would never again and yet it's happening all over again. The only difference this time is I know where she is but not _where _she is. I mean, it's kinda her fault for joining Bruce and Tony to build Ultron but also not her fault because she said that she didn't know what she was doing when they created that thing. But that almost makes it worse." He stared at the house, the window of Evelyn's room on this side and overlooking the yard. Someone passed by the window, probably Steve based on size, and he tried not to feel traitorous for letting anyone else in her room. "I'm rambling, aren't I?" He broke his own daydream and glanced back at the redhead watching him watch the house.  
  
"No more than usual." She smiled and Clint rolled his eyes with a hum, brushing the split log off the stump and replacing it with a new one.  
  
"How are you doing then? You and Banner seem to be getting pretty close lately. How long has that been going on?"  
  
"Nothing has been going on. And you're deflecting," Natasha called him out, avoiding her own questioning when he turned it around on her. Clint wasn't surprised, he'd know Widow long enough to know how that was going to end. Natasha continued, "we'll find her. We'll find Ultron. You know Evie can handle being on her own without Mother Hawk Clint looking over her shoulder."  
  
"I know." The archer grunted, hands tensing again before he forced himself to relax, swinging down and brushing away the broken wood. "She's still my teammate, Nat. I'm going to worry."  
  
The assassin raised a cool eyebrow. "Just your teammate? She's pretty much your kid at this point, Clint."  
  
He shrugged as indifferent as he could fake the gesture, regardless of his own thoughts. "Only if she says she thinks so. Otherwise, I'm her mentor and her teammate only."  
  
"And a friend."  
  
"And a friend, yes." He officially gave up on the pile quickly becoming overdone beside him, having been out all morning since waking up an hour ago. Besides, his shoulders were acting up again. "Was there anything else or would you like to formally ask me for a position as my therapist?" He raised an eyebrow teasingly, grinning a little.  
  
"The hot water's out."  
  
"Goddamnit."


	9. Vibranium

**Day 3 - Wednesday (Same day as Clint) - Cho's lab**  
The mechanic rubbed out a pencil line and resketched it, writing out measurements beside the little lines on the page. Evelyn had shuffled herself off to the corner of the lab that morning, papers spread around her on desks but not the papers correlating to the Cradle. No, there were internal scans going on on the Cradle to check the wiring was compatible, the number slowly crawling its way upwards from 26% on a nearby screen. But the papers in front of her described the details of her arm bracer, blueprints in chicken scratch from what she could remember from the originals, writing down more ideas on ways to make it more effective.  
  
Hey, everyone has to have a hobby. And waiting for the Cradle to basically update itself like a home computer was boring as fuck. She hadn't brought the actual bracer with her to the lab, knowing that it would be harder to hide than the papers should anyone come looking. Mainly talking about Ultron who she was sure wouldn't appreciate her side-project. And she hadn't seen the twins all morning which was slightly odd but she didn't want to question the silence and jinx herself or get distracted and end up writing random words from her thoughts on the papers.  
  
Such a thing had happened a little more than a few times with SHIELD paperwork... and a few classified documents... in _pen_.  
  
Getting back on topic, Evelyn rethought her previous tests of the arm bracer, only having had Clint throw empty cartons of orange juice at it previous to the enhanced's interaction with the device. It had stopped him, but the shock had backfired on her arm - unsurprising considering the speed he had to have been going at it and the force of his head connecting with the field had given him a decent headache. Evie registered in a random corner of her mind that that might be a reason for his much stronger undesirable attitude towards her on top of the Avenger thing compared to his sister. But questions remained. How fast could he actually run? Like, at top speed? If she had her laptop she could calculate his speed from the CCTV cameras and scanners however grainy they were.  
  
"Where are you with the Cradle's efficiency?"  
  
Evie started, spinning around and seeing the robot peering at her with emotionless quote-unquote _eyes_. She strategically stood in front of her papers, blocking his view. "You'll be able to start building your body in a few hours. But I need Dr Cho for that part. Otherwise its just minor repairs I can do while your body is being built that shouldn't affect anything else."  
  
"Shouldn't?" Ultron repeated.  
  
"I didn't build it," Evie said, flatly. When no response came, she sighed irritably through her teeth. "Look, I'm not the Cradle Master, I don't know every little thing. If you wanted someone who knew everything about it, why enlist me rather than an actual person who built it?"  
  
"I felt that the team were lacking incentive," Ultron replied, tilting his head. Evelyn didn't miss the use of the word "the" rather than "your" but ignored it for now. "And you are a brilliant woman, Evelyn. You are one of my creators. I think of it as an honour to have you working for me."  
  
"Not through any choice of my own," she mumbled at the floor.  
  
Ultron overlooked her comment. "I will send in the Doctor in a few hours to build my body. You will remain upkeep on the repairs on the Cradle and Me."  
  
"Not through any choice of my own," she repeated in the same low mutter, one hand fisting at her side.  
  
He didn't react to the jab, and instead just turned around and headed back to do whatever malicious AI robots did in their spare time. She was getting really annoyed about people doing that to her recently. But shrugged it off, turning back to her papers as soon as she knew for sure he wasn't coming back to scare her. The screen above her displayed 34%. Plenty of time.  
  
  
When it hit evening time, the messed up AI returned to the lab, this time with Dr Cho. She was still mind controlled but oh well, at least she wasn't dead. Evelyn gave her a polite nod, still consciously respectful of the doctor who smiled back emotionlessly and started setting up scans of the Cradle on a nearby screen. She explained to the two that the Cradle was operational for the construction process, and one of Ultron's Legionnaires handed over the Vibranium to integrate into the machine which flashed happily as it started up. Evelyn stood to the side, grinding her teeth with her new grumpy attitude she'd developed over the course of the day, and keeping as far away as the confines of the room would allow.  
  
"Perfect," Ultron smiled, a second before the twins walked in at the same time the Legionnaire disappeared out of the lab.  
  
"What's going on?" Wanda looked at the active cradle with a tilted head, studying it with her brother standing close.  
  
The robot approached the machinery, placing a hand on it with a gentle clunk the way metal did against more metal. He paused briefly, admiring, before talking, "The birth of Me. The start of it, at the least," he explained. Evelyn rolled her eyes so hard they hurt. "An evolved human form to lead mankind to a brighter future." The AI fawned over the Cradle, petting it as if it were his own masterpiece. Not like Evelyn had spent the last three days fixing it or anything. No, not at all. Without a thank you or a slight bit of gratitude for making sure nothing exploded, no less.  
  
"Want to say something?" Pietro's voice cut through the silence, drawing attention to his glare aimed at the quiet muttering Avenger in the corner who'd been making faces at the machine in the room's centre.  
  
Evelyn fisted her hands where her arms were folded, trying her best not to look as annoyed as she felt. These were the final steps. And the team was nowhere in sight. If they didn't find them in the next few days the Avengers were doomed. Extinct. And there was nothing she could do about it since attempting to sabotage the Cradle could lead to the city being vapourised, something she wasn't willing to risk. "How is this even gonna work? The Cradle prints tissue, not bodies." She shrugged. Evelyn's forte had never been biology or bio-organics, she had always preferred to work with the machine over the human body regardless of anything she'd learnt about it during PE.  
  
Helen seemed only too happy to reply, practically ecstatic even with the stone's influence. "The Cradle could only print tissue until now, yes. But the added Vibranium will bond with the tissue cells and allow for the new body to be generated with the strength, durability, and unique vibrational properties of the rare metal."  
  
"Fantastic." The mechanic's tone was as clipped as she could risk without the danger of being silenced by the Sceptre, though her voice held an underlying tone of awe at the machine's prowess and power. It would be kind of incredible to see such a thing. Even under the current circumstances.  
  
"You should be proud, Evelyn," Ultron insisted, tone barely containing his Intelligence's fill-in for human excitement. "Your hands are helping with the next stage of human evolution."  
  
Evie stayed silent at the reminder, rolling her shoulders and crossing her arms again, eyes glued to a screen away from the others filling the room. She'd already made her thoughts clear on the subject, no need to bark on about it anymore regardless of how many people in the room were staring at her.  
  
"Can't please everyone," The robot chuckled before turning his attention back to the machine. "How long until its ready? I'm not being pushy."  
  
"The body will take three days to complete, then we can upload your cerebral matrix on the fourth. I'm afraid there will be a little longer for everyone to wait for the body to be fully functional," Helen talked as she played around with a few things on the screen in front of her, bringing up tissue sample scans ready to send to the Cradle.  
  
"Are you guys feeling happy with that?" Ultron looked behind him to the twins still standing and watching.  
  
"Four days. Then we make our move." The twins nodded together, hands linking together.  
  
Ultron turned to look at Summers who was doing anything but looking back, deciding to remain stubborn. She wasn't in the mood to give answers, so he didn't bother asking her opinion. Not that it would have mattered too much anyway.  
  
  
You didn't get a lot of privileges as a prisoner, but there was at least better food here than at most other places Evie could imagine being kidnapped to. Cho's lab had a great cafeteria, most of the workers in the building controlled by the Sceptre continued to work on their daily routines as if there was nothing out of the ordinary. They were just quieter than normal if there was anything that had changed by measurable account.  
  
After Ultron allowed her to leave, her wandering feet took her to the cafeteria. Her old friend ice-cream had never failed her in the twenty-four years she'd been alive and never would for the rest of it as far as she was concerned.  
  
There was a draft that breezed against her face, and suddenly the hand she was holding her ice-cream in was clenching at nothing.  
  
_Well, that's one way to make an entrance,_ she reasoned.  
  
"You're still up then." It wasn't a question. She turned to stare at the speedster happily licking the plastic spoon with gracious smirking smugness.  
  
"Food's good here. Better outside," he commented casually, taking a large spoonful of the ice-cream to swallow.  
  
Evelyn hummed indifferently, giving him an up and down glance. "Yeah, I heard Get Set Grill is a good place. Never been, myself."  
  
Pietro paused halfway through another bite, turning to look at her with narrowed eyes. "How did you know..?"  
  
"Napkin in your back pocket." She nodded to the back of his dark wash jeans, a small crinkled napkin with the cafe's logo in the corner. She felt a rush of pride swell in her chest for noticing, and an additional rush flood through her when the enhanced scoffed and rolled his eyes. Pietro had snuck Wanda out earlier that day to eat, exploring the city without warning Ultron and stretching his legs somewhere other than the lab. It had helped Wanda stopping getting cabin fever, too.   
  
Evelyn smiled softly and picked up another disposable cup, filling it to the same level as her last and decorating it with chocolate chip and mini marshmallows, going for a strawberry sauce this time. As soon as she reached for a spoon, however, she was quickly holding nothing, and the speedster had a newly formed smirk on his own face again. Evie watched with "this guy is an idiot" eyes as he chugged down most of the second cup in only a few seconds even without using his abilities. "How much can you eat?" she blurted out loud without meaning, and Pietro paused, thinking.  
  
"I don't know. In the lab, we're given meals and vitamins on a schedule. Now we're out, I enjoy the freedom to eat what I want and when." He shrugged and finished the second cup, tossing it across the room into the trashcan beside the door. It missed its intended target and hit the edge instead, bouncing onto the floor and spitting melted ice-cream drops all over.  
  
Evelyn looked at him for a long moment where he stared back at her, daring her to say anything, but instead of responding verbally she picked up the first empty cup from the side, weighing it in her hands before tossing it across the room, landing perfectly in the trashcan with no problems whatsoever, leaving the enhanced beside her blinking at the trashcan.  
  
Evelyn tried not to look smug.  
  
That was a complete lie. The thought didn't even cross her mind not to look smug, folding her arms and wiggling her eyebrows at the eldest Maximoff. Archery lessons were paying off more than expected. He, as expected, had scowled and turned away, but it was strangely soft this time like he was being some sort of friendly. Evie put it down to the two of them being too tired to actually bother with some kind of argument or spite match.  
  
But this was also the first time she'd been able to look at the enhanced this close up. Dark wash jeans, a spandex shirt underneath an unbranded sports jacket and running trainers that looked old as hell. His hair was silver but the roots clearly muddy brunette. And his face crinkled with the impression of tiredness, but not sleepy tiredness, more drained tiredness. He looked... weary, really. Evelyn found it odd considering his abilities and why it didn't seem to be just a lack of sleep making him look that way.  
  
"Why are you still awake?" The boy's question made her snap out of her thoughts to notice he'd filled a third cup with ice-cream but did not have the additional trimmings Evelyn had applied.  
  
"I like ice-cream, same as you seem to do." She shrugged simply. "And I'm waiting for the Cradle to update itself with the Vibranium addition before I work on it more. Have to make sure it doesn't blow us all up, don't I?"  
  
Pietro looked surprised. "It can do that?"  
  
"The gem can. Its what gave you and your sister your abilities. Imagine what else it can do if it can give humans extraordinary capabilities such as super-speed or telekinesis," Evelyn explained, arms folding with a small nod as she realised how much Pietro didn't actually know about the whole situation. At least the Maximoff had the decency to look like he was considering it, going quiet. A rare sight that Evie took benefit of. "You're playing with something stronger than fire. Though I can't help but feel a little respect and sympathy that you two were the only ones who survived the experiments."  
  
Pietro began to glower in disgust over the idea of 'sympathy'.  
  
Evelyn rolled her eyes. "Not for you. For the other members or your protest group who didn't pull through. You were fighting for a good cause and then were taken advantage of." She'd read up on the reports on their way to the scrapyard. their group had been approached in the middle of the riots and they were promised a way to help. But they were the only survivors.  
  
Pietro watched the mechanic as the wheels in his head turned. She reached for another tub of ice-cream to actually manage to get a bite out of now that he was thoroughly distracted. The boy wanted to ask what else she knew about the protests, how much he knew about him and his sister, their abilities and powers, but bit his tongue for now. He'd discuss it with Wanda. They'd decide what they wanted to learn together.  
  
"Anyway, goodnight." She added her toppings and turned on her heel to head to her room, finally after days of being walked out on being the one to walk away from the other. Which lasted all of two seconds when a breeze fluttered by along with the brief flash of a human being, and her hand was left grasping the draft that past her with a groan at the ceiling, "Oh for fuck's sake."


	10. Bedsheets

**Day 4 - Thursday - 2:34am**  
He was in his sister's room in a flash, the calling of his name inside his mind a beckon to her aid. Pietro understood to some extent Wanda's powers, but making things float in his room and hearing her calling him from inside his head was not something he was yet accustomed to. "Wanda?" He'd sped through the door, sitting on the edge of the bed and shaking her shoulder, the younger's eyes screwed shut as she tossed around in her sheets. Another nightmare. "Wanda?" He called out louder, taking her face between his hands.  
  
Wanda opened her eyes with a gasp, a cold sweat settling over her face in his palms. They darted all over until finally landing on Pietro and her body went lax. Pietro relaxed until she suddenly sat up hissing, her hands clutching at the sides of her head. "It hurts." She shook her head, eyes screwing shut again.  
  
"I know. I know. I'm sorry." Pietro pulled her to him, cradling her in his arms and gently rocking. "It's okay. It will pass." One hand reached up to pet her hair while the other grasped her hand, linking their fingers. Wanda's shirt and sleep shorts didn't do much to offer warmth, and his vest and shirt weren't particularly helpful, so he tugged the clinical bedsheet around them and whispered sweet nothings as she calmed down.  
  
They sat like that for a few minutes, and Pietro managed to lull his sister into a somewhat peaceful state that was presently dashed away at the sound of a knock on the door. He felt Wanda quickly tensed up in his arms at the thought of company. "Who the hell is that?" he growled under his breath, glaring daggers at the door to the room. Giving a glance to Wanda, he untangled himself from her and flung the door open with more force than necessary to see the little mechanic standing there, hand raised as if she was going to try knocking again. Pietro grit his teeth at the sight of her, tired and not at all in the mood for people messing with his sister. It was late/early and he could handle this himself. "Go away." He scowled at her, hoping she would get the message and fuck off quickly.  
  
"Is everything okay in here?" Evelyn had a soft tone, peering around him and into the room to see Wanda on the bed with her blanket and not looking so great in the low light.  
  
The speedster steppe in the way, shielding his sister from her eyes. "Go. Away. Avenger." Pietro sounded out each word, accent thick with fatigue.  
  
"Evelyn, if you please. And I wasn't talking to you, Roadrunner," she sassed before turning her attention to the witch, leaving the elder in mild confusion over the name. "Are you alright?" she asked gently.   
  
Wanda looked Evelyn up and down, still dressed in her shirt and jeans from the day before and her hair mused as if would be at 2 in the morning. "Did something wake you?" The enhanced shifted on the bed, uncomfortable with the new attention on her.  
  
"Well, I mean, I rolled out of bed and things started floating around my room a little but I've been woken up to stranger things." Evelyn shrugged with a weak smile and a small laugh. Neither Maximoff responded but just continued to stare. Had it not been so early Evie would have found it a hell of a lot more creepy. "I'm three doors away, though. Are you sure you're okay? Don't need a glass of water or..? The cafeteria's open twenty-four hours if you wanted anything." Evelyn glanced back in the direction of the cafeteria she'd been barely a few hours before with Pietro.  
  
"I'm fine. My head just hurts a little." Wanda massaged her temple with two fingers, eyes falling to the bed.  
  
"I don't have painkillers on me and I doubt Cho has them anywhere. I could look," the Avenger offered.  
  
Wanda shook her head and fisted her hands in the sheets as it throbbed without regret. "I'm sorry for waking you," she apologised, which had not been something the Avenger had expected off of either one of them and hoped the surprise didn't register on her expression.  
  
"As long as you're okay." Evelyn looked at Wanda for a long moment, trying to gauge herself whether she was okay. Then she shifted her attention to the speedster. "Are _you _alright?" she asked.  
  
"Fine," Pietro said, still standing between them as a protective barrier.  
  
"Sure you don't have brain freeze from the four cups of ice-cream you had earlier?" Evelyn gave a teasing smile and felt the tension of his glare ebb away as his mouth twitched up at the corners in remembrance.  
  
His stiff muscles slackened at her attempt to lighten the mood. "I'm fine," he insisted, nevertheless.  
  
Evelyn glancing between them both before nodding her head to the right. "I'm three doors down so feel free to wake me again. As long as its because you need help and not because you want to be dicks or anything because I've suffered enough bedtime pranks from Tony, thank you." She pointed two fingers at her own eyes, then at the two enhanced, before slinking away down the corridor and not breaking eye contact until she could not be seen in the doorway.  
  
"She's weird," Wanda said after a pause.  
  
"Yes." Pietro nodded, agreeing, before closing the door much softer than he'd opened it.  
  
  
When the time was much more reasonable and her mood more agreeable, Evelyn was back to work in the lab on the Cradle and checking its updates and implementation mechanics connected to the introduction of the Vibranium. It didn't take long into her work to hear two sets of footsteps approaching the room, and she looked over her shoulder to see the twins walking in together. It struck her as odd that Pietro hadn't just sped them in like usual but chose not to comment. "Morning," she said instead with a small nod.  
  
"Morning," The twins responded together. Everything was mostly back to normal, it seemed.  
  
"Feeling any better?" she asked Wanda.  
  
"Better," the young Maximoff confirmed with a gentle nod. She certainly looked better than she had in her room, and Pietro also looked a little less glarey.  
  
"Oh, found the medicine cabinet earlier. There were painkillers inside if you still needed them." She reached into her jean pocket, pulling out a glinting piece of metal. "Key." She slid the small key that had been not very subtly hidden on top of the cabinet across the table to Wanda's side. She'd also taken the liberty of relieving the cabinet of a few medical items she could use for precision work on her bracer. If someone needed them, she'd give them back, but for the time being the small blades would come in useful. However, she still needed tools from the forbidden lab. She'd need to figure out a way to either get in or enlist help from someone to get in for her.  
  
Wanda picked up the key to study the tiny thing in her fingers as Pietro looked over to Evie. "Why are you being nice?"  
  
"Because I'm not an asshole?" Evelyn asked, eyebrow raising along with the intonation of her voice. The twins stared blankly. "It's nice to have people to talk to, you know. And it's not like you can hold an intelligent or engaging conversation with anyone who's been mind-controlled. Or not a robot." The mechanic allowed herself to sound smug, even if the witch just wrinkled her nose and the speedster rolled his eyes, two expressions she was more than familiar with from childhood teachers and classmates. It no longer bothered her as much now as it had back then. But then Evelyn furrowed her brow, thinking back on Wanda and Pietro's files, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she recalled the briefing package. "I guess you both didn't really have that many friends during the experiments, did you?" she mumbled more to herself than the enhanced stood watching her.  
  
"How much do you know?" Wanda pushed further on the subject, eyeing the mechanic.  
  
Evelyn leaned back on the desk behind her, arms folding and eyes glancing towards the ceiling. "Wanda and Pietro Maximoff - twins, orphaned at ten when a shell collapsed your apartment building. You two were protestors in your country Sokovia when Doctor List approached your group in order to convince you they could give you the abilities to fight back against your government. Following Baron Wolfgang von Strucker's experiments using the sceptre, your brother gained an increased metabolism as well as improved thermal homeostasis. Your thing is neural electric interfacing, telekinesis, and mental manipulation. No more, no less."  
  
The pair's eyes had grown marginally wider as they realised how much the Avengers knew. Obviously, they understood who the two were but they didn't expect anyone else to know so much about them. They would need to be careful when the work on Ultron's body was done.  
  
"Oh, and you both like strawberry smoothies," Evie added on with a cheeky smile, breaking off the Maximoffs thoughts.  
  
The corner of Wanda's mouth curled up just a fraction for a second and her brother kept his eye roll count down to a minimum.  
  
The sound of a holoscreen binging with an alert interrupted them. "Ah. Update." Evie turned around, starting to move things around onscreen. A pause. "By the way, do you think I'm going to end up waking up with my bedsheets on the ceiling again anytime soon? Because if so I'll need to find the staple gun. I swear it was somewhere around here..."  
  
"I didn't mean for that to happen," Wanda murmured under her breath.  
  
"I believe you." Evelyn nodded over her shoulder before looking back at the screen.  
  
The twins took a second to consider the quick dismissal and acceptance but thought not much of it other than yes, the girl was definitely as weird as they'd agreed.  
  
Evelyn's hand paused above an adjustable bar graph for a moment before she turned around completely back to the two. "What were you dreaming about? If it was a nightmare you were having and not something else. I'm just assuming." she said in a tone that told them she would back right off if told to do so. "You don't have to tell me or anything. I know I'm being nosy."  
  
A long pause followed. The lab was silent save for the light humming of the Cradle and the faint buzzing of the lights overhead. Clinical and uncomfortable when stuck staring at two other people in the room who seemed to have some type of stereotypical twin telepathy to communicate with only facial expressions. In fact, Evie had given up on an answer and was twisting back to her screen before Wanda caught her with "The night our parents passed away."  
  
The young Avenger faced them again. "What happened?"  
  
Wanda looked to Pietro, and Pietro began to talk, "We were ten years old, having dinner, the four of us as a family. When the first shell hits, two floors below, it makes a hole in the floor. It's big. Our parents go in, and the whole building starts coming apart. I grab her, roll under the bed and the second shell hits. But, it doesn't go off. It just... sits there in the rubble, three feet from our faces. And on the side of the shell is painted one word."  
  
"Stark."   
  
Maximoff sighed, "We were trapped for two days. Every effort to save us, every shift in the bricks, I think, _"This will set it off."_ Pietro's eyes drifted down, his hands reaching for Wanda's in comfort.  
  
"We wait for two days for Tony Stark to kill us." She linked her hands with Pietro, the two sharing a brief moment before looking back at Evelyn who had frozen, mind and body, the truth settling like a cold slushie down her back. "And you wonder why we don't want him to continue? He will destroy the world. And your team will help him do it."  
  
The mechanic swallowed dryly. She'd known from the file but hearing the experience recalled was something else entirely. "I'm... I'm sorry," she blurted, helplessly.  
  
"Sorry won't bring them back," Pietro spat bitterly.  
  
Evie furrowed her brow at the statement. Then she straightened, steeling her expression and righting her thoughts. "Neither will this. I understand you can't rewrite memories and what happened to you and many others like you was wrong, but the past can't be changed. No one can change the past, but they can change the future. I know my team can make the world a better place, they've been doing so for a few years now. I have faith in them the same as they have faith in people." She spoke calmly and softly, trying not to spark up another conflict. "So if you can't trust us, trust the people, the people we've saved, the people we've helped. I should know, I've been... helped by them." Evelyn looked down at the Cradle, noticing a small patch of dried milk she hadn't mopped up and scratched at it with her nail. The twins were looking at her curiously, but she just ignored it and moved on, not ready for that conversation. "Have you two eaten yet?" She turned back around to the screen behind her, resuming her work.  
  
"Have you?" Wanda countered. The mechanic stayed silent. She heard whispered bickering between the Maximoff's for a moment. "Would you like to come with us?" The younger eventually came out on top of the tiny argument.  
  
"I'm kinda busy right now. Don't want to explode us all or anything." Evelyn laughed back humourlessly, dismissing it easily with a shrug still facing her screen.   
  
The air in the room shifted and papers flew around as the twins exited, and Evelyn reminded herself for the fiftieth time that she needed to find some fucking paperweights around here.


	11. Candy

**Day 5 - Friday**  
The Cradle was certainly an impressive piece of machinery, Evelyn had to give credit. Watching through the little glass windows in the top of the chamber as the body was being created gave her a good view of the process, watching the body forming with more than a mild fascination. It was starting to actually look like a person now. It was... strange to look at something like that, but the process was almost entrancing. And watching so closely is what made her noticed the little sparks in the corner of the Cradle chamber and soon realised the circuitry must have been giving off excess energy. She'd have to fiddle with the transformer or deviate the energy elsewhere in the Cradle to stop that becoming a major problem. So, grabbing her screwdriver she knelt and opened the side panel of the Cradle, carefully removing the board she needed and studying it carefully.  
  
Quiet footsteps approached the room, and Wanda walked it with a light air about her. "Morning," she greeted first.  
  
"Hey." Evelyn nodded back, squinting at the piece in her hands before comparing it to a paper. Wanda took the time to look at the body through the glass as Evelyn figured out what she had to do. But she shortly discerned she would need help, and so looked up ever so slightly sheepishly at the enhanced. "Could I ask a favour?" she asked quietly. Wanda hummed, taking her eyes off the body and looking at the mechanic. "I need you to use your power to hold this part of the circuit down while I direct the current. I'm not allowed to turn the Cradle off, obviously, and if that wire moves off the plate it's connected to then it becomes volatile and the whole thing becomes electrified." Evie explained. Wanda blinked, slightly taken aback by the request. "Please? I'd rather not have a few volts of electricity flooding through me today if I can avoid it."  
  
Maximoff squinted, her hands beginning to fidget with red magic swirls. "Why not use gloves?"  
  
"Do you see any around here? And the actual tool I need is in the place I'm not allowed to go, as is the robot that I would have to ask to get there." There was the possibility of asking someone like Cho or other lab members to get them for her. And before Wanda could point out that hole in her argument, she quickly continued, "please, Wanda?" It was the first time she'd used Wanda's name, too, and hoped that would spark her to feel more open to her. It could also cause the enhanced to scowl and tell her not to call her by her first name, but it didn't do that. Instead, after a moment's consideration, Wanda nodded softly in agreement. "Thank you. Now, hold this bit down. This shouldn't take longer than thirty seconds, give or take." Evie gestured to a part of the circuit board as Wanda walked around to her side of the machine and knelt down.  
  
The younger Maximoff flicked her wrist, red light flowing out in colourful whisps and holding the wire to the connecting plate. After a few moments where Evelyn was trying to tell whether Wanda would fake her out and just let go anyway, she got to work on redirecting the current to stop the overload. It was silent between them, Evie focused on the circuit and Wanda on keeping the wire down which was much simpler than anything else she'd been asked to demonstrate during her experiments. As easy as clicking her fingers, in fact.  
  
"Wanda!" Pietro came zooming in in haste, yelling for his twin and sending papers scattering yet again.  
  
It was also as easy as clicking her fingers to let go too. Which is exactly what she did, concentration breaking as her brother rushed in, and the mechanic had no time to move her hand, resulting in a sudden cry of pain. "Agh! Fuck!" She dropped the screwdriver to the floor with a clatter, cradling her right hand with her left as her body recognised the pain in full.  
  
Pietro, for one, was extremely confused as to what just happened, nearly dropping what he was holding at the sudden yell and swear. "What happened?" He peered over the top of the Cradle to the two of them, only able to see above the shoulder line on either one of the girls.  
  
"Oh fuck me, that burns." Evie's hissed, her head hit the Cradle with a heavy thunk as she leaned forward, eyes scrunching shut and teeth gritting as shock flooded through her hand.  
  
"Are you alright?" Pietro asked, an eyebrow raising.  
  
"Oh yeah, I'm fine. Absolutely fantastic. Definitely not in extreme pain or have a numb hand with seizing muscles or anything."  
  
Wanda, for one, at least had the decency to look guilty over the fact. "I'm sorry."  
  
"No, it's fine. Couldn't have expected that." Evelyn shook her head, steadying herself. "Shit. Ow..." she was laughing a little, voice wobbly, and the twins looked at each other as if the mechanic had suddenly gone mad. She shook her hand out, sucking in through her teeth and breathing back out through her nose in an attempt to breathe away the pain. It didn't work. But what concerned her more was opening her eyes to look at the witch kneeling beside her staring in uncomfortable shame at her fault in the process. "It's not the first time, honestly. And it's not lethal so yay." Evie tried to give her a smile to show she was okay. Wanda still had the look on her face, though it was slowly dissolving into relief the longer they stared at each other. "Okay, okay, starting to get the feeling back. Okay." Evelyn's eyes were drawn down to her hand, fingers tensing into a fist and back out flat again. "_Wow_, that stings." her volume was raising but not her tone, staying inappropriately neutral for such a situation.  
  
"Can we do anything?" The elder Maximoff finally seemed to cotton on to the situation, stepping around the Cradle completely to assess the damage for himself.  
  
"It'll pass. It's just a bitch until it does." Evie told him with a helpless shrug.  
  
The three stood or knelt together in silence for a few seconds longer before something occurred to Evie as she shook out her hand again and nodded to herself. "You came in shouting your sisters' name, right? What did you need?"  
  
Pietro suddenly looked embarrassed by the reminder of his dramatic entrance. He lifted his hands into view to show what the girls hadn't noticed he was holding just yet. "There was a candy stall outside," he admitted with a quiet mumble, showing two brightly coloured swirling lollipops the size of his palm.  
  
"P, we talked about not having too much sugar." Wanda's voice turned soft and parental.  
  
"His metabolism should burn through it pretty quickly anyway, even if he eats loads of sugar," Evie remarked, clapping her hands twice as the sting and pain were completely gone. "I wonder how fast it burns regular food..." she mumbled to herself before glancing between the twins, curiously. "How much do you guys know about your own powers?"  
  
"We didn't have too much time to experiment outside official experiments," Wanda said.  
  
"And concentration seems to be a bit of an issue," Evie responded, ignoring Wanda's somewhat exasperated pout. She pulled herself up off the floor, the witch following suit, and rolled her shoulders out. "I'd like to try something out with the both of you," she announced, "I wanna know how fast you can run, and Wanda I think I have something that can help you focus rather than just blasting threats away as your style seems to be."  
  
"We don't want to do more experiments." Pietro shrugged her off quickly.  
  
"This will be different than the ones in Struckers' lab," Evie told him.  
  
"How is it different?"  
  
"Because now you have a choice." She said. A beat of silence passed. "I can't make you do anything you don't wanna do and neither do I want to. There would be no point." She shrugged, flicking her eyes between the twins who were watching each other with considering gazes. "So... what do you think?"  
  
  
A few minutes later things were all set up. The playing cards were back on top of the Cradle, Evie had set up a timer on one of the nearby monitors, and the twins were both ready at their stations. The first attempt at the experiment had papers flying all over the place and Evelyn almost completely called it off because that had basically become a running gag for herself now, but pulled back when she realised she could just weight everything down with spanners and screwdrivers.  
  
Then after everything was pinned down, they started up again. Evie started the timer, Pietro began running circles around the Cradle to the expanse of the lab room, and Wanda began to focus on keeping a house of cards on top of the Cradle completely steady and intact, concentrating on the cards and not on her brother blurring past her in a whirlwind of trouble. The timer counted down from three minutes as Evelyn sat back and held the edge of a desk so she wouldn't get sucked in by the mini tornado forming in the room, until finally, the counter ticked down to zero.  
  
"Aaaaand stop!" She called above the sound of Pietro running past, making the boy's trainers screech on the floor as he came to a swift halt.  
  
Wanda's concentration ended, the cards flowing out into a mess as she dropped her magic.   
  
Pietro stood to the side, swiftly polishing off half of the lollypop he'd brought in a little while before as Evelyn typed on her monitor. "Complete laps for three minutes without taking a break and you're not even breaking a sw- your shoes are smoking." She pointed down at the Maximoff's shoes, who looked down and jumped. He began to try stamping it out which seemed to only antagonise the smoke, and before he could set off a fire alarm, Evelyn was reaching for her water bottle and dumping it on his shoes, putting out the fire hazard.   
  
Pietro breathed a sigh of relief as his shoes were extinguished, then scrunched up his face as he realised he would have to walk around in wet shoes for the day, a look he aimed towards the shrugging mechanic. "Would you rather be on fire?" She raised an eyebrow with a sarcastic smile that didn't reach her eyes. Pietro rolled his own but smiled a little in return. "That was good. Lasted longer than last time I tried to build one." Evelyn turned to Wanda to say with a smile.  
  
Wanda glanced at the cards, waving her hand and the cards picked themselves up, forming a house and staying even without the influence of her magic to stay steady.   
  
"Okay, that's showing off a little." Evie joked, crossing her arms with a fake scowl.  
  
Wanda smiled and knocked the house down again.  
  
Evelyn turned back to her monitor. "From my calculations, you were running at just over one hundred miles per hour and that's in a confined space. Think you could go faster than that, Roadrunner?"  
  
"Possibly. I wasn't trying that hard." The speedster shrugged nonchalant, though his side-eye was hinting at his waiting for a compliment.  
  
"Cool." Evie nodded at the screen, not even noticing.  
  
"Also, what is 'Roadrunner'?" Pietro asked.  
  
"Did you seriously just ask me that?" Evie furrowed her brow. The expressions she got back from either Maximoff told her indeed she was just asked that. "Well, an actual Roadrunner is a fast-running ground cuckoo with a long tail and crest. But the one I'm talking about is a character in a cartoon show for kids and the whole idea is that basically he runs really fast."  
  
"Is he cool?" The speedy enhanced questioned.  
  
"I mean, in each episode, a Coyote called Wile E. Coyote who is the bad guy repeatedly attempts to catch and subsequently eat the Road Runner but is never successful because they're too quick and clever. So, I'd say they were cool." Evelyn shrugged simply.  
  
Pietro nodded in consideration and then promptly began smiling to himself as he imagined what that may look like.  
  
"If I had a phone and internet connection I could show you a few but as circumstances have it..." Evie gestured to their surroundings in an indication of the fact they were all in a way trapped there. It also made her think about the fact Ultron had not come to Wanda's aid when she was having a nightmare, or Evelyn's when she was hurt. For her, it just proved the robot didn't care about anyone but itself. She then faced Wanda. "Anyway, you could keep the cards for practice. Maybe even try doing tricks with the full deck. It would be a lot better than waiting all the time."  
  
Wanda glanced at the cards on the table and the box they came in. She shuffled the little plastic pieces back into the box and pocketed it for later.  
  
"Right. Now, that circuit." The mechanic looked down at the plate she'd screwed back on in fear of Pietro breaking something when running.  
  
"Would you like help, again?" Wanda inquired.  
  
"Yes, please. So long as your brother doesn't do anything to get me electrocuted again."  
  
"I'm sorry," Pietro apologised, and it made Evie pause, surprised, halfway to kneeling back down again.  
  
She looked up at him with a smile and a small "no problem" before turning back to the Cradle with the twins on either side of her.


	12. Butterknife

**Later that day - Clint's farmhouse**  
Having the Avengers over for dinner was something Clint had thought about before, but never considered it would be under the current circumstances. They'd all been at Tony's more than once for a group 'family' evening of food and a few games but never at his house, and for good reason up until now. But it was unavoidable and had been for the past few days. However, tonight was the first night they'd _all _sat down together to eat, otherwise having eaten at different times and prepared most of their own stuff when given permission to raid the kitchen whenever. Though he'd had to tell Steve off for feeding Lucky treats while he thought no one was looking. The one-eyed canine would get fat with the amount of attention the Captain was giving the dog when he bounded into the room with a tennis ball or chew toy in his mouth.  
  
Regardless of tensions left over from the Maximoff twins and the kidnapping, the mood of the week had been fluctuating between confident and optimistic. And yes, there was a difference. The main train of thought "we're probably not gonna die" and alternatively "we're _definitely _gonna die" was silently debated by each member of the team. No one had an answer, but they were all confidently leaning towards the latter, despite their optimism for the former. That didn't stop them trying to move on with life as normal in the meantime, or whatever "normal" meant in the life of an Avenger.  
  
"So, did you two work whatever you were arguing about out earlier?" Natasha addressed the Captain and remaining mechanic before she spooned another forkful of food into her mouth. "I'm surprised neither of you have bruises to show. It sounded heated."  
  
"You better not have broken anything up there," Clint butted in with a warning look, knowing who's room they were sharing.  
  
"The room was spotless. Nothing out in the open to break." Tony grumbled, moving his knife and fork around the plate like he couldn't decide where to start.  
  
Clint had come to recognise Tony wasn't used to eating surrounded by friends in such an intimate way. Eating around the kitchen table at the farm was different than at the Tower or HQ. It made Stark a little on-edge and uncomfortable, but he'd never say so out loud unless it was to Natasha. It reminded him of how Evie used to be when she was first eating there, and he pushed the thought away before it festered, killing his appetite.  
  
Steve mumbled lowly, "didn't stop you from rummaging around in the desk and drawers, though."  
  
Tony smiled weakly at Clint's fast glare. "I totally didn't do that."  
  
"Liar. The first thing you did when you went in there was snoop through and around her possessions." The blond beside him accused, taking a sip of his water glass. The two had been sharing underlying tension of some sort since Ultron's surfacing, so obvious a blind man could see... other than them, clearly.  
  
"She's an interesting person and I wanted to get to know her more outside Avenging or Stark Industries' labs. Anyway, it's not like you weren't tempted. I thought you'd sprung a security trap when you opened that bedside drawer and squeaked." Tony grinned.  
  
"I didn't squeak," Steve grunted.  
  
"Did."  
  
"Didn't."  
  
Tony smirked and looked at the rest of the table, jutting a thumb at the supersoldier. "Cap still can't get over seeing a modern-day tampon, apparently."  
  
"_Tony_."  
  
"Who wants salad?" Bruce interrupted quickly with the bowl in his hands, passing it over when Natasha raised a hand.  
  
Taking the bowl, the redhead scooped a helping onto her plate as she asked the archer, "have you heard anything from her?"  
  
"I called her grandparents to ask, they said they hadn't heard anything. But Mr Martinez said she'd called to cancel her babysitting the day after she went missing so five days ago she was alive," Clint confirmed, twirling his fork in his food and running his tongue along the inside of his teeth, thinking.  
  
"If Ultron wanted her dead he would've done so that day on the plane. He needs her, so she'll be okay." Bruce said as comfortingly as he could, still a little shaken by the incident and not without blaming himself in slight for not being able to stop them.  
  
Clint itched his thumb across his eyebrows, looking down. "Can we talk about something else?"  
  
The Captain cleared his throat. "Natasha said you did most of the work on this place yourself. It's impressive." He moved them on, gently, giving a nod of his head to the interior of the kitchen.  
  
"Yeah, but the place still looks as old as you do, Barton. In fact, the porch is the only thing around here that looks new," Tony added, finally making a start on his food.  
  
Clint paused, fork midway to his mouth, before forcing himself to resume and shrug off the comment and completely ignore the smirk tugging at the redhead's mouth across the table.  
  
"What?" Of course Stark would notice that, because he never notices anything like the ignorant playboy he is until he _wants _to notice something.  
  
"Nothing, Tony." Clint shook his head and kept eating but Stark didn't pick up the warning.  
  
"No, no, no, you two are hiding a secret. Or an inside joke or something like that. You gotta tell us now." Stark demanded, putting his utensil down and looking expectantly at the two assassins. After ten seconds of silence, Tony threw his arms up in the air, accusingly. "This is the Budapest thing all over again."  
  
"Its probably just bad weather, Tony." Steve shrugged.  
  
"It's been replaced more than a few times." Natasha teased out even with Clint's glare and subtle head shake. "...at least since Clint and Evelyn met," she added with a sweet smile that had Clint wondering what the hell he'd done to piss her off enough to torture him like this.  
  
"Domestic arguments turned messy?" The billionaire smirked.  
  
"I'm starting to think it's you who needs hearing aids, Stark. She's. Not. My. Daughter." Clint held back a frustrated growl and glared across the table at Tony who appeared to be loving the distraction and attention.  
  
"If she isn't your daughter, how _did _you guys meet?" Bruce couldn't deny his own curiosity on the subject, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "You've never really... said anything about it before. Not you or her," he continued to mumble, eyes staring at his leftovers slowly growing cold.  
  
Natasha stood up with the widest smirk on her face Clint had ever seen, and the archer narrowed his eyes at the agent. "I'm sure Nat can fill you in."  
  
"You introduced me to her after you met. So wouldn't it be better if you explained the story, Hawkeye?" She kept that smile on her face as she poured herself another glass of wine from the fridge.  
  
And the rest of the boys were looking at him, Tony expectantly, Bruce curiously, and Steve with subtle interest. So, he told the story. The rest of the Avengers listened, enraptured by the archer's dramatic retelling of their first interactions, walking home with Lucky to find his door kicked in one more than one occasion, discovering her phone, going to her school ("on Nat's suggestion" he added with extreme emphasis on the redhead's name) and everything to follow after. Though he breezed over her kidnapping, only calling it an "incident" out of respect for Evelyn and it being her choice to tell the story, and then everything up to the Avenger's formation. The rest was history they already knew.  
  
"That's sweet." Bruce smiled mildly when he's stopped talking, finishing his food with a final nod.  
  
"That's nice," Steve added, standing up and clearing his plate away to the sink.  
  
"Right." The billionaire nodded slowly, resting one arm on the table and tapping his fingers on the wood as the story sunk in. Then his eyes squinted, paired with an easily cocky grin. "Are you _positive _you're not related?"  
  
"Stark, I'm gonna throw this butterknife at you and I will not miss."  
  
  
**Cho's lab - The next day - Saturday**  
That morning was easier than any prior to it. No one argued, no one scowled, no one got electrocuted, and no one spilt breakfast all over the Cradle. Good start. Having taken the twins up on the offer to eat breakfast with them for the first time in the cafeteria, however quiet and ever so slightly awkward it was to be eating together and unsure if someone should carry a conversation at the same time, things were going smoothly. Pietro ate like a baby animal and scoffed his food at breakneck speed, Wanda ate with little delicate movements that suggested she understood _some _sense of decorum and grace, and Evelyn picked her way around the plate and unavoidably stood to clear her plate of some leftovers because that habit she'd yet to entirely kick. She was getting better though. Honest. And she wasn't exercising nearly as much as regularly so it was okay, right?  
  
The mechanic decided she would skip telling Clint about this part should she ever see him again.  
  
But, after breakfast, the trio spent the rest of the morning mulling peacefully around the lab. And Evelyn was pleased to report the Cradle was finally in a stable state. Yay. Celebration. Or not because evil AI robot trying to fuck up the world but, you know, small victories and all that.  
  
And then, as things always do when they start getting better, the morning went to shit. This shit in the form of an angry AI robot followed by a legionnaire holding the sceptre stomping into the room with his eyes locking on Evelyn. And before even Pietro had the chance to blink, Ultron had his hand wrapped around Evelyn's throat, holding her to the wall.  
  
"You know, maybe one design element you overlooked in your creation of me, Evelyn, was a measurable extent of patience because right now I feel like I don't have much to suffer you," Ultron demanded an explanation for his anger and shook the mechanic gently, her hands coming up in a feeble attempt to peel his fingers away.  
  
"What are you doing?" Pietro asked as he and Wanda huddled in the corner, both watching with serious concern in their faces.  
  
"Did you honestly think you could do it? I told you all communications go through me and still you continue to try and stop me?" The AI continued, and Evie was starting to feel the strain on her throat constrict further and grow to concerning levels, but she knew what he was talking about and grit her teeth. "She tried to communicate with her team through her earpiece," he told the twins after noting their confusion.  
  
It had been a moment of weakness. She'd woken up from a nightmare that squeezed her heart and her head to feel like they would burst. She hadn't been thinking about the Cradle or Ultron or anything else. She just wanted someone to talk to, someone to listen. So, in a last-ditch effort, she grabbed her tools and tried to get her earpiece up and running, and had apparently in some way succeeded unknowingly, but had heard nothing when she'd placed it in her ear last night and called out in the same tone she had when she first realised she was no longer on the jet.  
  
The robot grumbled, features contorting as much as his current form allowed, squeezing harder around the neck as Evie scrambled to get him to stop. Serious damage to her windpipe would be a problem soon if he didn't. "I have respect for you for creating me but I feel like you're just not giving me that respect back," he tutted at her like he was scolding a child.  
  
The twins' minds suddenly flashed with the memory of what Ultron did to Klaue, the way he'd sliced through his flesh like a hot knife through butter to take off his arm in a fury of being called a Stark. They recognised the tone Ultron was using. And they didn't like it when it was aimed at their... friend.  
  
When Evelyn's vision started to blur, breath coming out in choked gasps, a voice called out that was neither hers or Ultrons.  
  
"Wait." Wanda stepped forward, arm raised towards where the robot was holding the human to the wall. Ultron turned his eyes to the young enhanced, brow raised questioningly. "We still need her. The Cradle isn't stable." That was a lie. Evelyn had told them both this morning that the Cradle was finally stable and she wouldn't have to baby it to stop the building collapsing on top of them.  
  
The robot considered while the mechanic was close to losing consciousness. Finally, however, he let go and Evelyn sucked in deep hasping breaths, falling to her knees and coughing on the air burning her lungs.  
  
"Yes. We do. But perhaps not all of her." Ultron turned to his legionnaire still holding the sceptre. He plucked it out of its hands and turned around in time for Evie to look up and go wide-eyed in a flash of panic, her gut turning to ice.  
  
"No. Please." She scrambled back and hit the wall, shaking her head furiously as the robot approached her with intent.  
  
"That's not necessary," Pietro jumped in as Wanda put a hand on top of Ultrons on the sceptre, before he nodded in Evelyn's direction. "Look at her."  
  
The mechanic was clearly afraid, eyes darting between the sceptre, AI, and now the witch and speedster, in fear. She knew what Clint was like under that influence, and she'd rather not experience that. Not if she or anyone else could help it.  
  
The twins were trying to show him that, and even though Wanda hadn't been able to see inside his head the first time they'd met, her fingers were mumbling out red magic in hopes of somehow influencing his system and ideals to change while Pietro was standing ready to pull Untron's hand away himself.  
  
Whether it was a result of the magic or the look on Evelyn's face staring up at him, Ultron stopped and handed back the Sceptre to the Legionnaire. He then nodded but fixed the mechanic with a cold stare. "I don't suggest trying again, Evelyn. Especially not when we're this close to the end. Or the beginning." The malicious being chuckled to himself like he was sharing an inside joke that no one else in the lab understood, the sounds of his feet clunking away and echoing through the hall before finally disappearing from hearing range.  
  
Evelyn let out a noise of relief and pain. She dropped her head in her hands, curling her legs up as she sat against the wall.  
  
"Are you okay?" The twins approached her, kneeling on either side and trying to see past the hands blocking her face.  
  
Evie swallowed a few times, screwing her eyes shut in pain. It wasn't like being choked by a human, the robot was all metal and harsh edges digging into her skin and muscles. It hurt like hell. More than hell. She would definitely have bruises by tomorrow if not later that day. And it was her own damn fault. "I'm okay," she answered when she realised she'd been quiet for too long, but didn't remove her hands. At least her voice sounded better than it felt.  
  
A flash in and out of the lab, and there was a glass of water suddenly gripped in one hand. Evelyn removed the other from her face to stare at the glass, then up at the enhanced who'd put it there. Her eyes then flicked between the Maximoffs, putting the glass down. "Why did you do that?" she asked, eyes squinting slightly.  
  
"He would have killed you," Pietro said.  
  
"Or taken over your mind," Wanda added.  
  
Evie felt something itch the back of her head, and a rush of agitation suddenly flowed through her. "Why didn't you let him? Why didn't you just let him shut me up or get rid of me? That's one Avenger less for you to deal with when this thing is finally done and you're don't have to wait anymore?" She shrugged pathetically, letting her head fall back against the wall and staring up at the ceiling as the endorphins from the situation continued trying to untangle themselves and make her realise she shouldn't be annoyed at the people who had temporarily saved her from mind control and/or death.  
  
"Things have changed," Pietro said, confidently.  
  
Evelyn tilted her head to look at him. He wasn't scowling. He wasn't frowning. And he wasn't muttering in Sokovian under his breath to his sister. Evelyn twisted her head to look at Wanda on the other side. She wasn't huffing. She wasn't worrying her fingers with little red sparks. And she wasn't admonishing Pietro for being rash or too quick to judge.  
  
Maybe things had changed.  
  
Evie huffed, picking up the water glass and downing it in less than a few gulps, wiping her mouth with the back of her sleeve. "Thank you. Both of you." She continued holding the glass, arms resting on her knees.  
  
"Do you need an ice pack for that?" Wanda looked at her neck which was flaming red, imprinted with the shape of Ultron's hand.  
  
"Eh, it's whatever." It really wasn't but she could deal. She'd dealt with worse injuries. "But if you really want to help... is there any chance you could get me an ice-cream and _not _eat it yourself?" She asked, quirking an eyebrow at the speedster and smirking a little.  
  
Pietro blew out a breath, looking dubiously at her. "That is asking a lot."  
  
"P," Wanda chuckled softly with a smile that Evie soon matched.  
  
The elder Sokovian rolled his eyes, and Evelyn was holding a somehow full tub without the usual toppings she'd include for herself. But she wasn't cheeky enough to complain. Especially when she noticed similar tubs in either twin's hand. The mechanic could help but start to laugh at the whole situation, maybe due to the drop in adrenaline, almost forgetting completely about the pain in her neck as the Maximoffs chuckled along with her.


	13. Train

**Later that day...**  
It was later into the evening, just past dinnertime, when Pietro sped into the lab alone to find the mechanic hunched over a nearby desk and staring at piled papers so focused she didn't even notice him coming in. He approached her quietly from the side before coughing, making her jump and look up before straight back down again at her work. "Hey," she greeted in a mumble.  
  
"Are you alright?" the speedster asked.  
  
"I'm fine. I uh... just working on stuff." She shuffled the papers around and was glad that Pietro didn't seem to notice they were the plans for her arm bracer, or if he did he didn't mention it. She watched him out of the corner of her eye fidgeting on the spot. Because the day Pietro Maximoff ever stood still was the day the world ended.  
  
She decided this would be the time to finally ask for what she needed, "The Cradle is kicking up a fuss and I don't have the proper tools to fix it. The tools I need I'm gonna guess are in the lab that I'm forbidden from going in and fuck if I'm going to attempt going in there now after this morning. I would be walking myself to my death and no thanks, I wanna make sure I can see my team once more first." Evelyn rubbed her hand over her neck, the first hints of bruises showing up on her skin where Ultron had been holding her.  
  
Even Pietro could see they were going to be pretty severe when they were showing in full. He shook the thought off, eyes flicking from the Cradle to Evie then around the lab at the lack of specialised tools he could see holding papers down. He considered his options before taking a step closer to the hunched mechanic. "I could... look for you. If you told me what it was that you needed," he offered quietly.  
  
Evie looked up from her desk, eyes half-lidded and vision slightly fuzzy. "Do you know a lot about mechanics?"  
  
Pietro shuffled in place. "No."  
  
"Electronics?"  
  
He shook his head, almost shyly. "No."  
  
Evie considered that. "So if I told you I needed things to build an energy transducer, would you understand what I meant?"  
  
The speedster raised his brow as if to say "do I look like the kind of person who understands what you just said?" and sighed. "No."  
  
"A surge suppressor?"  
  
"No."  
  
Evelyn sucked in a breath through her teeth and tried to let it back out as calmly as possible. This would take work. "Okay, let's start smaller. Do you know what a soldering iron looks like? Or solder itself?" she asked slowly. He paused, thinking or maybe hesitating, then shook his head finally. "Basically, it looks like a really fancy pen you plug in. Its mostly metal. If you find the iron the solder should be a wire next to it on a roll like a thread. It's usually tin or lead."  
  
"Oh." He nodded slowly, eyes glancing away before back to the brunette.  
  
Evie nodded back. "Right, I'll describe what the things I need look like. If you find something you think I'm talking about, bring it to me and I'll tell you. I'm sorry but I know very little Sokovian so I don't know the translations." she apologised. Even SHIELD hadn't had much luck in that way. She only remembered particular phrases and codewords after months of them being drilled into her head. "To be honest, I've always sucked at languages, even in high-school. I can say "hi" in maybe three other languages than English. And order a tomato and cheese pizza in Italian and French. But if I'm being chased by somebody, someone's trying to kill me, or I'm dying: I'm fucked."  
  
Pietro snorted a laugh, coughing a little to try and cover it. But the two of them knew Evelyn hadn't missed it. And he found himself not all that bothered this time.  
  
"Soldering iron," she reminded him.  
  
"I will try."  
  
And so, most of the morning was spent telling Pietro the names of different items, some bad description and incredibly unhelpful vague hand gestures until Evelyn had everything she needed. She found it sweet when Pietro brought back the right items and she told him the name again, and he would repeat it in English. He didn't seem to know the Sokovian words himself for most items he held, but she caught the mumbles under his breath for a few simpler items.  
  
Wanda joined them a little while later after using the bathroom and walking in on their awkward game of charades, watching her brother zoom in and out and being confused by the English words. She looked like she wanted to say something each time he tilted his head innocently at the mention of a new item, like a puppy learning a new command, but kept her thoughts quiet. She did start smirking to herself, however, as she watched the exchanges of words and Evelyn fidgeting with her hands, not unlike Wanda when controlling her powers.  
  
Eventually, when all the items were gathered, Evie made a small display for the twin's sakes about looking as if she were working with the Cradle until they decided to turn in for the night. Then she scrambled back to her own room with the tools in her arms with an excited if slightly terrified air around her, working late into the night to get herself ready.  
  
  
**The next day - Sunday 10th**  
Maybe pulling an all-nighter had been a bad idea, when she came into the lab that morning with the newly repaired bracer hidden under her sleeve with Ultron and Dr Cho already inside and waiting. Explaining the body was ready for the gem, she stood to the side, watching and chewing her lips as the sceptre was brought back into the room and handed to Ultron.  
  
"It's beautiful. And SHIELD never even thought..." Dr Cho gazed with glassy eyes at the gem and body.  
  
"The most versatile substance on the planet and they used it to make a Frisbee. Typical of humans, they scratch the surface and never think to look within." Ultron broke open the sceptre's blue centre and a yellow gem inside floated out, landing in his hand. He opened the Cradle lid and placed it carefully in the head of the body, yelling light fizzing out in lightning-shaped sparks, spreading through the body with a pulsing movement.  
  
It wasn't long before the twins entered the lab, slightly surprised at the rest of the company already waiting for them, but went about mulling around as usual and sharing a few words with Evelyn out of earshot of the robot. The twins silently decided to stay on this side of the lab with the mechanic when they saw the bruises poking out the top of the shirt Evelyn had chosen to wear that morning, deep purple and looking remarkably sore.  
  
"Cellular cohesion will take a few hours, but we can initiate the consciousness stream. We're uploading your cerebral matrix now." Cho talked as Ultron pulled up a chair and a wire was connected to the back of his head, leading into the Cradle and the synthetic body's consciousness.  
  
Wanda walked forward at the pull of something in her magic, gently letting her fingers trail over the top of the Cradle, curiously following her intuition. "I can read him. He is dreaming." She began to smile softly.  
  
"I wouldn't call it dreams. It's Ultron's base consciousness, informational noise," Helen supplied.  
  
"How soon?" Ultron pressed.  
  
"We're imprinting a physical brain. There are no shortcuts. Even if your magic gem is-"  
  
Wanda closed her eyes to more deeply read Ultron's base mind, and saw a vision of a world burning before her eyes. Images and ideas of global annihilation flashed through her mind, causing her to scream and stumble back from the Cradle and into Pietro's protective albeit confused arms.   
  
Evie looked up from where she'd been sitting at the scream, suddenly worried.  
  
"How could you?" The younger Maximoff's voice was shaky, her eyes filled with fear and hate at the AI she stared at.  
  
"How could I what?" Ultron hadn't seen what she had, standing from his chair.  
  
"You said we would destroy the Avengers, make a better world," Wanda accused.  
  
"It will be better."  
  
Wanda stared. "When everyone is dead?"  
  
Pietro and Evelyn blinked at the question.  
  
"That is not... The human race will have every opportunity to improve," The robot revealed his true intentions to the room.  
  
"And if they don't?" Pietro asked, spite quickly flying up in his tone as he hugged his sister.  
  
"Ask Noah."  
  
Wanda shook her head, brow furrowing together as she realised the depth of the situation. "You're a madman."  
  
"There were more than a dozen extinction-level events before even the _dinosaurs _got theirs. When the Earth starts to settle, God throws a stone at it, and believe me, he's winding up. We have to evolve. There's no room for the weak." Ultron ran a delicate hand over the top of the Cradle as Wanda had been doing moments before seeing the truth.  
  
"And who decides who's weak?" Evie stood up from her perch on a clear desk, distracting the robot as Wanda subtly shifted her hand, and Dr Cho's eyes no longer reflected Tesseract blue.  
  
Ultron shrugged. "Life. Life always decides." He suddenly looked up at the ceiling. "There's incoming. We have to move."  
  
"That's not gonna be a problem," Cho told them. She then walked to a nearby screen, tapping a few buttons and cancelled the upload to Ultron's consciousness. Ultron sighed mechanically and blasted Cho across the lab with his hand  
  
In the ensuing chaos, Wanda and Pietro sped off together, leaving the conscious mechanic and robot together in the room.   
  
"Ah, wait, guys!" He groaned before blasting more of Cho's workers and technicians who had entered the room away. He turned to Evie, and Evelyn was torn between a sense of "I told you so" and "did they really just leave me here?" while staring back at Ultron, ready to power up her bracer. He chuckled humourlessly. "They'll understand. When they see they'll understand. I just need a little more time." The AI unplugged himself from the Cradle before glaring in Evelyn's direction and readying up an energy blast.  
  
Before either the blast could hit or Evelyn could pull up a forcefield, her feet weren't touching the ground, and then suddenly they were again, and she wasn't in the lab anymore. And she was extremely dizzy. Stumbling to sit on the floor and steady herself, she looked around to realise Pietro had returned for her and run her outside to the markets along with Wanda watching her from a few steps away.  
  
She looked up at the two of them, spreading her arms wide. "Believe me now?"  
  
The twins looked between each other as Evie stood up, brushing herself off.  
  
"What do we do now?" Pietro was stumped for their next move, usually the one to suggest ideas for the twins.  
  
Evie shrugged helplessly before the wind changed. A sudden gust accompanied by the loud noise of a flying engine caused her to look up and spot a flying jet in the distance, hovering over what was Cho's lab. "Hold up. That's the Quinjet." She recognised. Then it really hit her. "They're here. They're here!" Evelyn could have jumped for joy if this weren't a completely inappropriate time to do so. Her team was here. And they were going to kick some robot ass. Well, they would once Evelyn got to wherever they were landing.  
  
The mechanic frowned as the idea settled in her mind, and her eyes flicked back to the twins looking at each other, unsure. "What are you two gonna do?" she asked.  
  
A look and a nod shared between them, and Pietro declared, "we stick together."  
  
Evelyn nodded slowly under the scrutiny of their oddly questioning gazes at her. " "We" as in you two together or are you trying to include me in your little picture?"  
  
  
Natasha raced through the streets on her motorcycle, coming up behind the van transporting the Cradle and yelling over the sound of the wind rushing past her into her comm link. _"I'm going in. Cap, can you keep him occupied?"_  
  
Cap, who had been successfully distracting Ultron and tackling the two of them onto a nearby train for the past few minutes, grumbled as he pulled himself up from the floor to face the robot. "What do you think I've been doing?"   
  
He was suddenly struck in the face by a metal hand, and he swung his shield into the attacker. Blows exchanged between the two in a flurry of attacks and defence, both of them edging nearer to the hole in the side of the train they'd made crashing inside. Moments before Ultron could manage to push Steve out of the train with a lucky hit, a blue blur flashed behind him, knocking him off his feet and into an already shattered window. Pulling himself up, he walked towards the speedster now standing at the other end of the train before metal railings were bent in front of him, shrowded in red magic, to stop him. Turning around, the AI spotted the second enhanced staring at him with her hands glowing red.  
  
"Please. Don't do this." Ultron pleaded with the young witch.  
  
"What choice do we have?" Wanda asked as the train turned around a harsh corner and jolted them all to one side.  
  
Ultron fired up his hand in Pietro's direction, the Sokovian ducking fast as a whip out of the way before Ultron could fire, and instead the AI smashed his way back out of the train to fly into the air.  
  
"I lost him. He's headed your way!" Steve called out, running to the front of the train where the engineer had been knocked out, and the train was quickly approaching the buffers for the end of the line.  
  
_"Cap, you see Nat?" _Clint's concerned voice called into comms when he lost visual.  
  
"If you have the package, get it to Stark! Go!" The Captain shouted over the roaring of the train.  
  
_"Do you have eyes on Nat?"_  
  
"Go!" He called out again, hearing a frustrated grumble in reply but didn't comment once his eyes tracked on something else behind him, causing his eyes to widen. "Evelyn..." He saw the mechanic holding onto a nearby handrail as the train shook and shunted around, suddenly breaking through the buffers and onto the main streets, debris flying up and around the train. "Civilians in our path." Steve directed Pietro, quickly speeding out and shoving civilians out of the way of the oncoming train as it ploughed through the street.  
  
Evelyn looked at Wanda with nervous eyes, hands gripping the rail. "Can you stop this thing?"   
  
Wanda looked hesitant, but raised her hands and thrust them down to the floor, red light flooding through the floor and onto the wheels of the train, halting them and causing the vehicle to screech and squeal as it continued sliding across the pathway, Pietro in front of it in a blur pushing more and more people out of its way, slowing down until the great hunk of metal came to a shaky stop.  
  
The inside passengers disembarked in a scared rush when things were still, helped off the broken train by pedestrians and anyone already out on the street.  
  
A little away from the sight of the destruction, Pietro panted, bent forwards and leaning tiredly on a tipped over crate beside his sister trying to catch his breath. "I'm fine. I just need to take a minute."  
  
"I'm very tempted not to give you one." Steve approached them with Evie following behind.  
  
"Steve," she admonished and shook her head when he looked at her. "Not now.." She didn't look much better than the speedster, exhausted and frustrated.  
  
Steve dug in his front pocket, holding out an earbud to her. "Lose something?"  
  
"Didn't lose it," Evelyn revealed the small but broken communicator in her back pocket before tossing it into the nearby rubble, and after a moment of thinking about the idea of hearing Clint's voice again, stuck the new one in her back pocket instead.  
  
"The Cradle, did you get it?" Wanda asked, looking up from her brother.  
  
"Stark will take care of it." Steve nodded.  
  
Wanda shook her head. "No, he won't."  
  
Steve raised an eyebrow before drawing them together. "You don't know what you're talking about, Stark's not crazy." Neither Pietro nor Wanda looked to believe him. And at this point, Evie couldn't blame them. "Stark, come in. Stark." Steve called out on the earbud. After radio silence, he asked "anyone on comms?"  
  
"Ultron can't tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it. Where do you think he gets that?" Wanda asked, Pietro standing up behind her now he was back to breathing normally.  
  
Steve didn't respond, just acknowledged their location to the team and walked them all back to the jet as it flew back for them, without Clint as a pilot this time.  
  
When the back door opened, both Maximoff's froze and took no steps further. It took the Captain and Consultant a few paces before they realised they weren't being followed. Glancing at one another, Steve went to take over as pilot from the auto, and Evie looked at Pietro and Wanda. "Its okay. I promise," Evelyn said gently.  
  
The twins didn't look at each other again to confirm their choice, moving up into and sitting in on a bench with seatbelts far away from the cockpit and across from the young mechanic.  
  
No one said a word all the way back to Headquarters.


	14. Reunion

Tony wandered into his lab, spying the new addition of the Cradle sat buzzing alight with energy in the centre, Barton crouched on top and studying it while Banner looked at the screens scanning its interior design and the body lying inside.  
  
"Anything on Nat?" Bruce asked as he spotted Tony strolling in.  
  
"Haven't heard. But she's alive," the billionaire said, checking the screens Banner was working on.  
  
"This is sealed tight." Clint jumped off the top of the world's most expensive tissue printer with a sigh.  
  
Banner circled the Cradle, typing a few things onto a nearby computer and adjusting his glasses. "We're going to need to access the program, break it down from within."  
  
Tony nodded, glancing at Clint and thinking with a hum. "Any chance Natasha might leave you a message? Outside the internet, old school spy stuff."  
  
Clint, still dressed in his uniform vest, stood with his hands on his hips and pressed his tongue against his teeth. "There's some nets I can cast. Yeah, alright. I'll find her."  
  
Thudding boots approached the lab followed by three lighter sets of footsteps trailing behind. "We're back. And we've got guests," Steve called out into the lab as he, Evelyn, and the Maximoffs strolled into the lab.  
  
"Jeez, not even a week away and I've been demoted to "guest"? I help pull you hard-asses together in the first place, remember." Evelyn scoffed, but there was no disguising the fondness behind her tone as she crossed her arms.  
  
There were warm smiles all-around at the return of their smart-mouthed Avenging Consultant, and a single breath of _"Evelyn"_ from the archer staring at her with relief in his eyes. He was set at ease at the sight of her alive and staring at him and he couldn't wait to cross the room and pull her forwards into a hug, but he was not prepared for the sudden stiffening of her body in his embrace and the brunette quickly shoving out of his hold, taking a few steps back with a half-suppressed noise of panic.  
  
The room went still.  
  
Clint was especially confused, not having expected her to practically jump out of his arms like he was going to attack her.  
  
Evelyn didn't understand it herself, but for a moment she could swear to whatever deity that she had seen the blue in his eyes, the icy Tesseract blue, and her brain had produced a knee-jerk reaction to get away from him. And now the air in the lab was stiflingly uncomfortable.  
  
"Bet you didn't see that coming." Pietro couldn't help rubbing it in but didn't get away with it without Wanda smacking his arm lightly, her being the only one other than Evelyn to understand why the reaction happened in the first place.  
  
Clint cleared his throat, shaking off the shock of her sudden rejection of him and held his arms in a way he hoped was pacifying and non-threatening. "Uh... are you okay, Evie?" he asked gently, studying her up and down to try and figure out why she was so on edge.  
  
She nodded jerkily, internally forcing herself to calm down. "Yeah, yeah. Just a bit... jumpy. From the fight and everything. You know how it gets when you're fighting with a maniacal robot ready to take over the world," she excused, her body finally relaxing when it registered the lack of threat. Then she smiled, "plus being kidnapped for the second time is kinda a bummer - double the charm, right?"  
  
"She's fine," Tony chuckled softly, leaning on the Cradle with a half-relieved smile.  
  
"Is that alright?" Evelyn nodded towards the Cradle, glancing it over. "Hate to spend a week mending it then figure out you trashed it as soon as you got your hands on it. It'd be like Steve's bike all over again." Evie grinned softly at her own joke along with a few of the guys, even with Steve's exasperated look aimed towards her. "Hey, I'm not complaining. But you do crash that bike a lot, let's be fair." She held up her hands in innocent defence.  
  
Steve shook his head, giving her a nod and a parting smile. "I'm gonna hit the showers." He turned before anyone could grab him and bring him back, the American flag clad ass disappearing behind a wall and out of the lab.  
  
In the small pause of silence as Steve made his exit, eyes flickered dangerously from one person to the other, everyone well aware that more than one thing was funky now. And no one was making any moves to stand closer to the twins staring -or really glaring- back at them all.  
  
Evelyn broke the silence when it grew more than uncomfortable. "Where's Nat?"  
  
Tony, Bruce, and Clint exchanged short glances between each other, brows furrowing and unfurrowing with a few small headshakes until Clint begrudgingly spoke up, "Ultron got her. She's not dead or Ultron would be rubbing our faces in it."  
  
Evelyn made a small sound of agitation, eyes falling to the floor as her thoughts spiralled quickly downwards. "So we basically just traded one of us for another?" She shrugged rigidly, folding her arms and rolling her shoulders.  
  
"No one's traded anyone," Bruce spoke up softly. "We'll get her back."  
  
Evelyn looked sceptical.  
  
Clint wanted to embrace her and tell her it was going to be fine and Nat could take care of herself but didn't dare in case of making her worse. She would calm down and come to him when she was okay... most likely. "You should probably get some rest. Its been a long week," Clint advised her softly, still tracking on father Hawk instincts.  
  
"What about those two?" Bruce asked quietly, nodding his head in the direction of Wanda and Pietro watching them all with cautious eyes.  
  
"Heavy surveillance, I think," Tony mumbled under his breath, but loud enough they all heard him.  
  
"Tony. No one wants a fight."  
  
"Neither do I. In fact, I'm trying to prevent one. You recall everything that's happened the last few days and the last time we met these guys, right?" Tony asked sarcastically.  
  
Bruce winced, ducking his head and trying not to think about the Hulk breaking near half the city outside the scrapyard.  
  
"They'll be sticking with me, thanks," Evelyn said, cutting the argument off before it could start.  
  
Everyone in the room shifted to her, including the twins. They were in her territory now. Not that Cho's lab was their territory by any means, but this was much more out of their comfort zone than that had been.   
  
"Are you sure that's such a good idea after what happened?" Bruce was the first to voice his concern.  
  
"As Tony said, I'm fine," the brunette confirmed, nodding. "I'll keep an eye on them. If anything happens I'll know what to do." She left the safety protocol unsaid, more out of respect for the twins by not patronising them than anyone else's faith. Evie turned to the Maximoffs who were glancing between the rest of the Avengers and her, appearing ready to join the verbal debate should anyone else attempt to insult or insinuate anything. "Follow me? I'll get you settled, so long as no one has any problems with that." She aimed a fierce look back at the boys, not interested in any arguments and too tired to start one.  
  
"When you've finished freshening up with Bonnie and Clyde over there, can I get you back in here to talk over something?" Tony requested.  
  
"Give the girl a break, Tony."   
  
"Yeah, she's been through enough lately," Clint added, arms folding in a protective stance.  
  
"I'm sure I can handle it," Evelyn replied, shortly, eyes glancing over the three adults in the room with a daring edge. Her tone was remnant of the same stubborn voice she gave Clint when he told her he didn't want her doing her SHIELD Examination Week.  
  
The archer refused to try and tangle with that beast after the first time, and it gave him back a little faith in Evelyn's sanity. "If you're sure," He conceded though he understood it was not his decision to make. And perhaps it was best the mechanic be left alone for now.  
  
"Right, come on." She looked at Wanda and Pietro before starting to exit the lab, the twins trailing behind her closely.  
  
  
Evelyn guided them to the living quarters, or at least the floor with her room on it, and showed them both two spare rooms beside each other for them to settle into, have a shower, take a nap, and maybe later meet up and have something to eat. Evie especially wanted to do all that now she was back in Headquarters, as well as at some point apologise to Clint for their reunion failure. But they all decided to congregate in her room instead because what even is personal space? Never heard of such a thing.  
  
Evelyn rifled through her drawers for a change of clothes, picking out an old band shirt and tossing it onto the bed in the middle of the room. "Told you they weren't all bad. Tony was just joking when he talked about surveillance," she said warmly to settle their nerves, regardless of the fact she knew he wasn't kidding at all.  
  
"They care about you," Pietro recognised, nodding softly to himself where he sat on the chest at the edge of the bed without asking, leaning his elbows on his knees as the mechanic threw more clothes on the space behind him.  
  
"But I don't understand." Wanda looked up from where her contemplative look had been aimed at the floor, standing beside the desk in the far corner. "I saw your fear. You fear your team, you fear your death at the hands of your friends."  
  
Evelyn paused at a pair of ripped jeans, dropping them and rubbing her hands over her face with a sigh, finally deciding to get this out of the way now. "I'm not afraid of my death. I'm afraid of the first person since I was eight who showed me kindness turning on me," she told them.  
  
Both Maximoffs stared at her, confused.   
  
Evie crossed her arms and grumbled, "Wanda, I don't know how much you saw in my head or the whole of what either of you know about me but I'm not entirely proud of my past. I'd go so far as to say I hate that part of my life. And Clint, who I met pretty much on accident, was the first person in years to show me kindness,"  
  
"If you know about the New York Battle a couple of years ago, he became mind-controlled by a vengeful god with the same stone that controlled Dr Cho a few days ago and he tried to kill me. But we managed to recalibrate his brain and he turned good again. If I ever lost him for real I don't know what I'd do. It would probably destroy me." That was no lie. Clint meant too much to her. He was her turning point, her anchor, regardless of how soppy it sounded. She needed him and no one could replace him if he disappeared from her life. She knew that as soon as she started working properly for SHIELD and didn't care at all. "Upstairs when he hugged me, those images of him with those eyes flashed in front of me, and I got scared. For a moment, I thought..." she didn't finish, looking at the floor as her face curled up like she smelled something awful. She stayed in silent contemplation for a few seconds before taking a deep breath in and turning her attention back on Wanda and Pietro to say, "so know now that if either of you hurt him or the others, regardless of how docile I might look or how powerful you may be, the Avengers will look like a daydream in comparison to what I'll do to you."  
  
The twins glanced at each other briefly, trying to decide whether she was being serious. She hadn't seemed so terrifying by their experiences with her before now, in fact having seen her almost cry twice before now. But the strength of her voice when she spoke was a threat alone.  
  
Evie cleared her throat self-consciously when they were quiet for too long and nodded. "I don't usually make threats but there you go. Just the same as you both would for the other, I would go to tremendous lengths to protect what I have now."  
  
Wanda flicked her eyes down to her hands, then up to the mechanic. "By the emotional connection I felt, I had assumed Barton was your father. If he is not, then..."  
  
She'd hoped they wouldn't pick that up, but of course they would. And Evelyn was on a roll, so. "I can't say much about my real parents. I lost them years before I met Clint. My mother died in a car crash while I was being babysat and my father just walked out on me because I was too much of a burden. I've lived with my grandparents since I was four and moved out later on. Clint has taken care of me since then, he was the one who introduced me to SHIELD -though that was mainly an accident- and has stood by my side ever since. He practically is my father, and the team love to remind us of that." She smiled in spite of herself, shaking her head at the memories since they all first met and the joke had started its run, stretching all the way through two years of minorly frustrating the archer and the consultant.  
  
Pietro looked up at Wanda, and their eyes met. Both felt the same thoughts pass through their minds. They were all parentless children in a world that showed them no answers or mercy for it but had accepted two different outstretched hands when asking the world for help. Evelyn had chosen hope, whereas the twins had chosen hate. And that one different option is what separated them from each other. But perhaps moving forwards they could all take the same hand this time.  
  
Evelyn finished throwing her outfit onto the bed before twisting to the Maximoffs with her hands on her hips and a steady breath. "So, are you staying with us to fight the evil megalomaniac robot trying to destroy the world, _like I told you he would,_ or are you going to speed off into the distance in a flash of blue blur and abandon us while you can?"  
  
Wanda stepped closer to Pietro, who nodded at her silently before looking at Evelyn/ "We want to stick with _you_, not "us". But if that means staying here to fight, then we will stay and fight." Pietro stood up off the edge of the bed, sniffing and straightening his jacket. "No more running away." His fingers tangled with his sisters, the two of them standing side by side as they had done in everything in their lives, ready to stay and fight for the future of the world whatever it may look like.  
  
"Yay," Evie cheered, half-heartedly fist-bumping the air but was smiling softly at them.  
  
The twins nodded back in agreement.   
  
Evie hummed softly. "And also I mean this in the nicest way possible but can you guys get out of my room now? I know you want to stick with me and everything but I need a shower and a nap and you're _not _sticking close enough for that. I don't share my bed with anyone."


	15. Recalibration

**Three years ago - Helicarrier Sick Bay**  
_When Barton started to wake, the first thing he noticed was his wrists strapped to the edges of the bed he laid on. The second was his ability to realise he didn't want to escape them to get back to Loki like a loyal puppy. He shifted as he came back to consciousness, a pain starting in the back of his mind and flooding quickly forward as the same force that the Tesseract had slipped into his mind tried to keep itself firmly stuck in his brain. The archer strained against the bonds, breathing hard and shaking his head, squinting his eyes and reopening them multiple times to a blurry, disorientating room._  
  
_The third thing he noticed was he was not the only person in the room._  
  
_"Clint." The soft voice called to him. It was female, familiar. "Clint, can you hear me?"_  
  
_He shook his head again, forcing the feeling crawling back into control of his body a far out of his mind as he could, straining and grunting as he rolled around on the bed as much as the bonds allowed. "Ev... Evelyn..." He tried to grab onto that idea, that hope, the girl sitting watching him with concern as he pushed Loki out of his head._  
  
_"You’re gonna be alright," she promised, her voice continuing in its soft encouragement._  
  
_Clint panted, his vision finally clearing up to his usually perfect eyesight and his headache starting to ebb away slowly. "You know that? Is that what you know?" When he felt the last little pieces of the mind control slip away, his body relaxed, dropping back against the bed with an exhausted sigh. "I gotta- I gotta go in though. I have to flush him out."_  
  
_"You're recovering slowly. It'll take time."_  
  
_Barton shook his head again, eyes staring up at the ceiling widely. "You don’t understand. Have you ever had someone take your brain and play? Pull you out and stuff something else in?" He swallowed, throat suddenly dry. And he wished to ask for the water bottle sitting on a tray a few feet away, but he ignored the need. "You know what it’s like to be unmade?"_  
  
_The mechanic watched him with soft eyes, heartbroken at his words. She couldn't understand. And she could barely imagine what it was like to have someone else in your mind like that. "No. No, I don't." she shook her head, minutely, standing up and crossing over to that tray with the blessed water bottle. "I'm sorry."_  
  
_"Why am I back? How did you get him out?" He followed her walking behind him with his eyes, trying to piece his thoughts back together after being scattered so messily._  
  
_"Cognitive recalibration, apparently. Natasha told me to hit you really hard in the head." She turned back to him, holding the bottle, and sat back down in the chair beside his bed._  
  
_"Thanks," he said, softly._  
  
_She smiled dryly, eyes falling to the floor. "Never thought I'd ever have to fight you like that. You're so intense. You get this little crinkle between your eyes..." Evelyn mumbled as she began to remove the strap restraints still holding him down now she was sure he was completely back._  
  
_"Evelyn... how many agents? How many did I-"_  
  
_"Don’t. Don’t do that to yourself, Clint," she cut him off quickly and continued speedily to stop him when he opened his mouth to argue. "This is Loki. This is monsters and magic and nothing we were ever trained for. Or at least I wasn't. Not entirely sure on your end of things, to be honest."_  
  
_"Loki. He get away?" he asked even when he already knew._  
  
_"Yeah. I don’t suppose you know where?"_  
  
_He shook his head, lifting his hands to rub at his wrists when the restraints were finally removed altogether. "Didn’t need to know. Didn’t ask. He’s gonna make his play soon though. Today."_  
  
_"We have to stop him."_  
  
_"Yeah? Who’s we?" Barton raised an eyebrow, holding one wrist in the other palm._  
  
_"Whoever is left." Evelyn shrugged tiredly._  
  
_Clint turned himself to sit sideways on the bed, his legs dangling off the edge and facing her chair. "Well, if I can put an arrow through Loki’s eye socket I’d sleep better I suppose."_  
  
_"Now you sound like you." Evelyn smiled._  
  
_"But you don’t." Clint accused gently, and that smile slipped off her face almost immediately. He knew instantly what she was thinking, and reached out to take her hand to consolidate her, but she flinched and pulled her hand close to her chest away from his grasp. He blinked, not having expected it, and retracted his hand. "I'm sorry."_  
  
_"Don't." She shook her head but her eyes weren't on him._  
  
_"No. Even with my mind thrown out, I remember what I did," he told her, regretfully. "You’re a mechanic, not a soldier, Evie. Now you want to wade into a war. Why? What did Loki do to you?"_  
  
_Evelyn wet her lips, looking up from the floor with something burning behind her eyes that resonated with something similar in Clint's chest. Determination. "He took you, fucked with your mind, forced you to do things you didn't want to do. He isn't going to get away with that." She grit her teeth. "He's a bully. It's just a little hard to see that past that helmet of his. Think he's compensating for something?" She nudged him with her shoulder and a small smile._  
  
_Clint snorted, shaking his head at the floor before his eyes found hers again with a soft smile on his lips. "Thanks for saving me."_  
  
_Evelyn picked up the hand she'd refused moments before and squeezed. "Thanks for saving me first."_  
  
  
Clint didn't think of himself as a big drinker. There were not really that many opportunities to get shitfaced with the job he had, having to be on constant alert and not stumbling drunkenly into his trousers when the alarm at two in the morning screamed there was a global emergency happening as soon as he'd hit the bed. But now seemed like a nice time to polish off a glass of whiskey Tony probably wasn't aware he owned behind his bar. Yeah. Approaching Ultron in a stupor was a fantastic idea. He wouldn't feel anything while being ripped to shreds by an army of apocalyptic robots and he'd be having a good time while doing so.  
  
No. He wasn't planning on getting drunk no matter how much he wanted to find the answer to his problems at the bottom of the expensive-looking liquor bottle. But no one could blame the archer for wanting to be just a little bit tipsy for a few hours.  
  
There were footsteps approaching her. He guessed it was Steve coming to check up on him and slap one of those big hands on his shoulder to reassure things would be okay, but when the footsteps stopped short of his personal space and the guest said nothing, Clint turned in his seat and paused. Evelyn.  
  
"Hey," he greeted first when she didn't say anything.  
  
"Hey," she replied, hand not so subtly picking at a loose thread on the right pocket of her jeans.  
  
A beat of silence.  
  
Clint gestured the half-empty glass in his hand out to her. "Drink?"  
  
"No thanks." Evelyn wasn't a big drinker either, barely ever doing so unless it was a party at Tony's.  
  
Clint nodded, turning on the barstool and resting his arms on top of the bar, staring down at the honey brown liquid staring back at him in gentle temptation. Maybe he should quit while he's ahead. It was already late, clearly dark outside, and he was bordering on the edge of lowering his inner inhibitions.  
  
Evie shuffled on the spot, glancing around the room. "I have to commend Tony for the interior design of this place, especially the bathrooms. Water pressure's great."  
  
"Evelyn." That was all it took now, just a short call of her name, to tell her she was rambling and clearly avoiding the real reason she was approaching him.  
  
"About what happened upstairs-"  
  
"It's okay. I get it."  
  
"No. You don't."  
  
Clint glanced over his shoulder at her, questioningly.  
  
Evie sighed, approaching his side and sitting on the stool beside him. Her feet didn't quite reach the floor like his did, still that few inches shorter than him even now. "What happened upstairs, it was because of what Wanda showed me in my vision," she began to explain, steadily, "I saw you, back on the Helicarrier. We were fighting again on the bridge, it was going exactly the same way as it did last time, except this time I lost. I didn't get to recalibrate your mind. And you took me out."  
  
Clint didn't have to ask what that meant. His mind happily filled his head with ideas on how that happened. Knife? Gun? Shot with his bow? It could have been any and all of them.  
  
"And then when I saw you again upstairs, I just... I don't know. I swore I saw that look in your eyes, that blue, and it was like I was back there again. Helpless. I never want that to happen again." She dropped her head into her hands, elbows resting on the bar. Her shoulders sagged, practically melting into the seat she occupied. Evie took a few deep breaths, each one calm and slow, until the last one came with a quiet shudder. She pulled her face out of her hands with a sniff, and that's when Clint saw the tears streaking down her cheeks. She tossed her hands in an exasperated flourish. "Oh, and now I'm crying. I'm actually crying over something that happened years ago. Didn't cry when I was kidnapped, didn't cry when Ultron strangled me. Wow, I'm pathetic." She chuckled wetly, wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand and a growl of exhausted frustration. She chuckled again, choked by a silent sob.  
  
"You're not pathetic." Clint put his glass down, turning himself to her.  
  
"Yes, I am."  
  
"No, you're not. Its been a long week for us all. And to have someone else poking around in your head is not a nice experience. I know I'm not a fan." He tried to calm her down, but she just shook her head and looked away, refusing to meet his eyes as hers became red and stinging. Clint lifted his hand but hesitated for a second. She'd made it clear upstairs... He resolved himself and laid his hand on her shoulder in a firm gesture. She didn't flinch. He relaxed. "I missed you," he said softly to her, a whispered promise that he cared, that he worried.  
  
She smiled weakly to herself, wiping her cheeks once more before smiling more assuredly up at him. "I missed you too, old man."  
  
Barton sighed, clicking hos tongue and fixing her with a pointed stare, wagging a finger. "I'm gonna let that one slide."  
  
She laughed proudly, and so did he a second after.  
  
The two sat there in hopeful quiet for a little while, just enjoying the silence and the feeling that there was someone beside them who knew. Who understood. Who could talk and listen. It was something both felt they needed to do much more often.  
  
Evelyn broke the silence while clearing her throat, hands starting to tap a rhythm out on top of the bar. "I should probably see what Tony wanted."  
  
"I'm sure he can wait another hour. Besides, I ordered Chinese and hot chocolate." He grinned knowingly at her, finishing his drink with a quick gulp and sliding the glass away to be forgotten.  
  
She grinned at the ceiling with a victorious cheer. "Oh, fuck yes. Are we sure you're not the mind reader of the group, Barton?"  
  
"Oh no, don't you start."


	16. Ultron 2.0

**Two hours later**  
It was late into the evening before Barton decided Evelyn could go and find the scientists. A cup of hot chocolate and some incredibly deep-fried food later, Evelyn made her way into the lab to find Tony and Bruce debating over whether or not green tea tasted like veritable swamp water and why on earth would Bruce like to drink such crap. Evelyn politely informed Tony that not everything needed to be bitter and junked up on caffeine just because _he _was most of the time. He'd scoffed and rolled his eyes, muttering about Evie being junked up on her attitudes.  
  
"Are the twins all good?" Bruce steered the conversation away from the upcoming argument.  
  
"They're settled. They shouldn't cause a disturbance," Evelyn confirmed with a nod.  
  
Tony clicked his fingers and gestured to the oversized tissue printer. "Great. Now, for the Cradle..."  
  
"I can work on tissue degeneration. If you can fry whatever operational system Cho implanted, Evelyn can begin taking the interior wiring apart safely." Bruce started walking around the Cradle, peering through the glass windows down at the body before nodding to himself.  
  
"Might need gloves. Last time I got a pretty nasty shock messing around with the inside of this thing." Evelyn began looking around the desks for said gloves.  
  
"Yeah, about that..." Tony spoke up, making the two pause where they were and glance at him.  
  
It took maybe three seconds of looking at Tony's hesitating yet anticipatory expression to understand what he was thinking.  
  
"No."  
  
Tony approached the doctor who began stepping backwards around the Cradle. "You have to trust me."  
  
"Kinda don't." Banner held up his hands.  
  
"Our ally? The guy protecting the military's nuclear codes?" Stark reminded him.  
  
Bruce sighed, stopping and pushing his glasses up his nose.  
  
Tony flicked a screen towards the end of the room, bringing up a fully repaired hologram of JARVIS's consciousness on display. "I found him."  
  
**_"Hello, Dr Banner. Agent Summers," _**the AI greeted happily, wisps of orange energy floating around the conscious orb.  
  
Banner and Summers stared in mild shock at the reformed AI.  
  
Tony nodded a reply to the silent question. "Ultron didn't go after JARVIS cause he was angry. He attacked him because he was scared of what he can do. So JARVIS went underground. Scattered - dumped his memory. But not his protocols. He didn't even know he was in there until I pieced him together." The two scientists stood on either side of the Cradle, staring each other down.  
  
"In where? What? Where did he..?" Evie's eyes flickered between the two in confusion while standing beside the hologram and resisting the urge to run her hand through it.  
  
Bruce folded his arms, blunt nails scrubbing his five o'clock shadow. "Fury showed up at Clint's farmhouse telling us Ultron kept trying to get the nuclear codes but they were constantly being changed. Tony went to the NEXUS in Oslo to find our ally. Apparently that was JARVIS." He gestured to the hologram before he turned to Tony. "And now you want us to help you put JARVIS into this thing?"  
  
"No, of course not! I want to help you two put JARVIS in this thing," Tony replied with an excited smile. Banner shook his head as he silently questioned his friendship with this man, and Tony threw his arms out openly. "We're out of my field here. You know bio-organics better than anyone, and _you _have been up close and personal with this thing for the last few days."  
  
"And you just assume that JARVIS' operational matrix can beat Ultron's?" Evie raised an eyebrow.  
  
"JARVIS has been beating him from inside without knowing it. This is the opportunity, we can create Ultron's perfect self, without the homicidal glitches he thinks are his winning personality. We have to," he implored.  
  
**_"I believe it's worth a go."_**  
  
"Dude." Evelyn stared at the hologram accusingly as if it could see her expression.  
  
Banner shook his head, fingers raking through his hair. "No, I'm in a loop!" he yelled, holding his hands up. "I'm caught in a time loop, this is exactly where it all went wrong."  
  
Tony rounded the Cradle to his side to put a friendly hand on his shoulder. "I know, I know. I know what everyone's going to say, but they're already saying it. We're all mad scientists. We're all monsters here, buddy."  
  
"Oy." Evelyn frowned.  
  
Stark ignored the small protest. "We gotta own it. Make a stand," he continued, even with Banner shaking his head with clear hesitancy. "It's not a loop. It's the end of the line," the billionaire promised, and felt his excitement slump as his friend continued to appear anxious and unpersuaded. His attention turned to the consultant. "Any chance of support on the mechanic side, Mouse?"  
  
Evelyn blinked at him, dumbfounded. "_Fuck _no. I have spent the last six days looking after this thing against my will and now you want me to do it willingly? And plug an Artificial Intelligence -hi JARVIS- into this vibranium plastic tissue machine thing instead? Absolutely not." She folded her arms with what she would forever deny as a pout on her lips, pacing around the room before doing a double-take at the side of the mechanical wonder Bruce was standing by. "Aw, and there's a massive dent in the side of it now," she groaned. "Why can you guys not get through one mission without breaking something? I feel like the maid. Stop breaking expensive equipment or I won't build you nice things anymore!" She kicked a stray connector cable before hissing out a pained curse and rubbing her foot with the reminder not to do that again.  
  
"Easy, Evelyn. You just came back to us, kid." Tony held up his hands to pacify the sudden anger spike, eyeing the bruises on her neck they'd yet to mention aloud. It didn't do much to cool Evie's ire, scowling at the large dent in the side of the advanced machine and mentally berating herself on the amount of time she'd spent trying _not _to damage the damned thing. The older mechanic itched the back of his neck, twisting to look between her and the machine. "Also this has gotta look really good on your internship paper," he tried with a smile.  
  
"I want to drop out if this is where that leads," she mumbled grumpily, holding her crossed arms tighter to her chest.  
  
Tony chewed at his inside lip, pausing to think, and then nodded. "You wanna drop out? Okay. I promise you can drop out as soon as this whole thing is over, no questions asked. You'll still get your grant and I'll write you a glowing review for anywhere you wanna go if you just _please _trust me on this one." All through his speech she still looked hesitant, but her eyes flickering between himself and Banner hinted she was not a mind made up all the way. "Just this one last thing," he pleaded again, ready to give up. Not to mention if she went and told Barton about this he'd probably be having his backside handed to him by the same stick stuck up the near-retiree farmer's ass.  
  
"Maybe we should," Bruce said, suddenly.  
  
Tony and Evie's heads shot up.  
  
"I mean..." the doctor hesitated, removing his glasses and beginning to fiddle with them as he thought, looking down to the synthetic body "...it might not even work. And this is what Ultron wanted. If we were able to turn it around on him and use what he wanted for good instead of evil. Not to mention how many scientific boundaries we would be breaking if we were successful." His eyes flicked to JARVIS's humming consciousness, unable to doubt his curiosity and marvel for the whole ordeal.   
  
Tony, satisfied and smirking, turned back around to Evie with a smug expression. He just knew was going to get his way again.  
  
The young mechanic grit her teeth, sighing through her nose as her eyes tracked back on that dent in the side of the Cradle, then up to the glass windows and the outline of the printed body she could make out from this distance away. Shaking her head and squeezing her eyes shut tight, her body slumped as one hand traced over the marks decorating her collarbones in a smattering of purple patches. She could tell them no. She had a choice. She didn't have to get tangled in this web again.  
  
Her green eyes flicked up. "Where have you plugged it into?"  
  
  
By Monday morning, they were executing the final stages of the plan. It hadn't taken long to explain the Cradle to the boys and save them a world of trouble trying to figure out what they were doing with the same helplessness Evelyn had done. The hours seemed to fly by before the orange glow of sunrise was peeking in through the windows and Tony had to turn the dimmers on. They were all ready for breakfast by the time the Cradle started cooperating properly.  
  
"This framework is not compatible," Tony muttered to the two, tapping a few things into his computer desk and watching the same error messages pop up onscreen.  
  
"The genetic coding tower's at ninety-seven percent. You have to upload that schematic in the next three minutes," Evelyn said, rounding the Cradle and kneeling beside the cables running all the way around it and linking to the nearby power source and screens.  
  
A thick boot hitting the floor drew attention to the Captain and twins standing at the lab entryway. "I'm gonna say this once," Steve started.  
  
"How about "nonce"?" Tony fired back.  
  
"Shut it down. You don't know what you're doing." Steve narrowed his eyebrows.  
  
"And you do? She's not in your head?" Bruce gestured scornfully with his glasses to the youngest Maximoff.  
  
"I know you're angry." Wanda stepped forward.  
  
"Oh, we're way past that. I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade," Bruce said remarkably calmly.  
  
"Banner, after everything that's happened..."  
  
"And you're _helping _them?" Pietro glared at the mechanic who was stood like a deer in headlights in the middle of them all.  
  
"I'm trying to stop them making the same mistake twice," she blurted out guiltily in defence.  
  
"You don't know what's in there!"  
  
"This isn't a game..."  
  
"The creature--"   
  
In a blink, all the cables connecting to the Cradle had been unplugged and warning alarms were sounding from the nearby computers and displays, everyone currently in the lab left looking at Pietro standing on the opposite end of the room than he was a moment before throwing down the last cable to enter his hand, hitting the floor with a clatter. "No, no. Go on. You were saying?"  
  
Something echoed loudly in the speedsters ears, but the sound was almost blurry in his hearing. His brow furrowed when he spotted the bullet slowly rising in front of his face when the ground suddenly disappeared from under him.   
  
"Pietro!" He heard his sister yell as he hit the floor of the Legionnaire lab below them, and felt the boot of the archer step on his leg to stop him scrambling to his feet. Looking up, he was met with the sight of the bastard from the woods and the scrapyard looking down at him.  
  
"What? You didn't see that coming?" Clint smirked at the boy before leaving him down and heading to the stairs.  
  
**_'Power Loss Critical'_** appeared on all screens surrounding them.  
  
Tony moved away to the computers. "I'm rerouting the upload."  
  
Steve scowled, patience tested too far, and tossed his shield at Tony, rebounding off the computers that were soon shooting sparks in reaction, alarms beginning to blare louder.  
  
Tony called for his suit arm, blasting the Captain away before the back of his suit flew in and attached to him.  
  
Bruce leapt forwards as Wanda made a break for the room below, holding her back to his chest. "Go ahead, piss me off," he warned.  
  
"Don't," Evelyn protested as Banner grabbed onto the witch, distracting the doctor long enough to be blasted by her magic that sent him flying back into a table.   
  
Steve tackled Tony at the same time the man's chest repulsor went off, sending Tony through a window and Cap to the lower deck at opposite ends of the room.  
  
The flash of a red cape in their peripherals and suddenly Thor appeared from the entryway in full Asgardian garb, leaping his way up onto the Cradle, thrusting his arm up and charging Mjolnir before sending a powerful bolt of lightning into the unconscious body.  
  
_"Wait!"_  
  
**_Warning: Power Overload_** blinked onscreen as graph bars rose with the increasing energy thrust into the machine.  
  
Thor finally let up on electrifying the unconscious body inside, panting and staring down through the glass at the being from his visions.  
  
Then the Cradle proceeded to explode, sending the Asgardian flying and the rest of the team to shield their eyes from the blinding eruption. Looking up in shock, they all stared at the body of red and silver with the gem at its forehead that crawled its way out of the Cradle to perch on the edge. A moment of silence when the being examined itself, staring strangely at its arms before meeting Thor's eyes across the room, and then leaping at the God. Thor swung his hammer, knocking him through a window and nearly careening out of the larger window of the party room balcony before the body stopped as if frozen in the air and stared at its reflection in quiet contemplation.  
  
Thor put his hammer down on a nearby table as everyone from the lab came to join them in the party room.  
  
The vibranium being turned around, slowly floating to the floor and landed without a sound. "I'm sorry, that was... odd. Thank you." The voice of the body matched that of JARVIS's programmed voice, and the figure materialised its own clothes and a cape in the style of that of Thor's own.  
  
"Thor, you helped create this?"  
  
"I've had a vision. A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life and at its centre is that. It's the Mind Stone. It's one of the six Infinity Stones, the greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in its destructive capabilities."  
  
"Then why would you bring it to-"  
  
"-Because Stark is right."   
  
"Oh, it's definitely the end times," Evie muttered humourlessly.  
  
"The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron."  
  
"Not alone," the body corrected.  
  
"Why does your "vision" sound like JARVIS?" Steve questioned.  
  
"We... we reconfigured JARVIS' matrix to create something new," Tony said, stepping closer to the Vision, still struck with disbelief.  
  
"I think I've had my fill of new," the supersoldier replied.  
  
Vision began gently pacing the room. "You think I'm a child of Ultron?"  
  
"You're not?"  
  
"I'm not Ultron. I'm not JARVIS. I am..." He looked down at his arms again, flexing the material fingers in strange patterns.  
  
"I looked in your head and saw annihilation." Wanda stepped forward, narrowing her eyes.  
  
"Look again," he offered her.  
  
"Yeah. Her seal of approval means jack to me." Clint grumbled as he walked further into the room.  
  
"Their powers, the horrors in our heads, Ultron himself, they all came from the Mind Stone, and they're nothing compared to what it can unleash. But with it on our side-"  
  
"Is it?" Steve cut Thor off. "Are you? On our side?"  
  
Vision stalled a moment. "I don't think it's that simple. I am on the side of life. Ultron isn't, he will end it all."  
  
"What's he waiting for?"  
  
"You," he answered.  
  
"Where?"  
  
"Sokovia. He's got Nat there too." Clint answered, giving everyone in the room a momentary breath of relief.  
  
Bruce slid his glasses into his front shirt pocket, approaching Vision. "If we're wrong about you, if you're the monster that Ultron made you to be..."  
  
"What will you do?" Vision asked. As the silence stretched on and his eyes met all the members of the room, it dawned on him that they would all destroy him should he act the way first intended. He could accept that. "I don't want to kill Ultron. He's unique, and he's in pain. But that pain will roll over the earth, so he must be destroyed. Every form he's built, every trace of his presence on the net, we have to act now. And not one of us can do it without the others. Maybe I am a monster. I don't think I'd know if I were one. I'm not what you are, and not what you intended. So there may be no way to make you trust me," the being narrated, turning away for a moment. "But we need to go." He turned back, and with him he brought Mjolnir up into view, a steady hand gripping its handle to lift the hammer off the ground.   
  
The room fell into silence.  
  
Thor took back the weapon from Vision, who released his grip and walked away. The god nodded, tapping the head of the hammer to his palm before starting to follow it. "Right." He patted Stark on the shoulder as he passed him. "Well done."  
  
"Thirty minutes. Get what you need." Steve ordered swiftly, a short nod to them all.   
  
As the team filtered out, the ones left remaining when everyone else had gone were the twins, the mechanic, and the archer, in dead silence.  
  
Clint didn't say anything because the eyebrows of disappointment on his face spoke for him. Even without the scolding eyes or the hands on his hips, Evelyn could hear the message he was putting across to her. Evie swallowed, offering nothing in the way of an excuse or an apology, especially not after their talk a few hours before, and just allowed him to leave with a frustrated sigh and the look of a displeased father written across his face.  
  
She hated that look and never wanted to see it again. She couldn't ignore the guilt gnawing in her stomach from that expression alone. "Oh man, if Ultron doesn't kill me, he will," she groaned, rubbing at her face with her hands. When she dropped them, both twins were staring at her wide-eyed and horrified. She was quick to realise why and threw her hands up. "It was a_joke!_ It was a joke! I was _joking!"_ she assured them in a rush. She sighed when they seemed to relax a little at her words, shaking her head silently and looking away. "...sort of, anyway."


	17. Sokovia

Pietro sped around the corridor of the living quarters, checking each room methodically in search of the mechanic. They were leaving soon and the rest of the team were gathering in the penthouse, so he left his sister exploring in the storage room upstairs and went to find Evie. It was mildly annoying he hadn't remembered which room was hers, his brain thinking faster than the rest of his body most of the time that he would miss the little things such as room numbers. Although he couldn't really blame his run-before-he-thought-it-through attitude on speeding into Evelyn's room and coming face-to-back with the Avenger currently standing half-naked in front of him.  
  
She shrieked at him in fright, covering her chest with both arms even with her back to him. "Fuck! Dude! What the fuck?!" She yelled at him as he thoughts finally caught up with his eyes and he stumbled back out the door, tripping over his own feet.  
  
"Sorry!" He shouted and slammed the door shut as fast as his abilities allowed, stumbling out excuses in English and babbling a few Sokovian words that Evelyn didn't understand but could try and appreciate anyway since they felt like apologies. Well, either apologies or a lot of explicative cursing.   
  
"There's this thing called knocking in America. Try it sometime, Roadrunner!" She called through the door accusingly, trying to stop her heart beating like she was being attacked.  
  
"I said I was sorry!" Came the muffled reply in an embarrassed voice.  
  
Evelyn blew out a breath, running her hands over her face and through her hair down to the tips, calming and telling herself they weren't on opposite sides anymore. Then she felt a slight flush creep in across her cheeks when she realised what he must have seen. Swallowing and grabbing the clothes she'd planned to wear for her fight, which considering she was usually watching from the sidelines or in a control room wasn't much, she pulled on the shirt and jacket, fixing her bracer on tight and grabbed a red leather jacket from the bed. She had seen it before when choosing her final outfit and decided it would better suit someone else. Red had never been her colour anyway.  
  
Finally, she faced the door. Pushing away the flustered feeling in favour of remembering they were all probably going to die in twenty-four hours so it wouldn't matter regardless, she approached the door and swung it open with as much confidence as she could muster.  
  
"Right. What did you want? What was so important?" she questioned with more courage than she felt.  
  
"I... uh..." Pietro was shuffling in place, his body practically vibrating with the excess energy that wouldn't be noticeable unless you really looked, with his eyes darting from her own to a place on the wall beside her head and then back again. A few seconds of quiet and Evelyn squinting her eyes at him later did he finally remember what he was doing and cleared his throat. "They told me to find where you were. We're leaving soon," he repeated what he was told.  
  
"Okay, then." She nodded at him.  
  
No one spoke again until Evie stepped out into the corridor and shut her room door behind her, beginning to make her way to the elevator.  
  
"Are you sure this is what you want to do?" Pietro asked, walking alongside her instead of speeding ahead like his body wished to do.  
  
"Saving the world from a super psycho robot bent on global annihilation? Well, its better than anything on TV at the moment."  
  
Maximoff snorted. At least this one seemed to have a sense of humour that didn't fade with fear. "Are you afraid?" he asked as they reached the elevator.  
  
"Nope." Evelyn pushed the button.  
  
They both stepped inside once the doors opened. "Not even the slightest part?" Pietro questioned, brow raised.  
  
"I'm not afraid of this, Pietro. Trust me, I've spent a lot of time in my life being afraid of things, I know what it feels like. And this ain't that." she told him as the elevator took them to the penthouse floor. "Anxious? Totally. Anticipatory? Absolutely. But not afraid."  
  
They stepped out into the hallway once they reached their floor. Evie reminded herself to pick up her bow and taser guns wherever they were now. Tony didn't seem to ever want to put her weapons down even after how many times she told him only she got to mess with her own weapons. "Where's your sister?" she asked.  
  
Pietro nodded to the small personal storage area off one corridor past the party room where he had found his new clothes and shoes. The two walked in to see Wanda staring at all the little gadgets and screens illuminating one wall while they sat behind bulletproof glass. It saved anyone who ever found their way into the Tower for bad purposes from stealing anything personal stored there by the team.  
  
Evelyn and Clint both stored their weapons inside, and so she placed her free hand on a section of the glass, allowing it to scan her biometrics before unlocking and revealing her bow and quiver, the same one she received as her first real gift with the letters _'HARLEY'_ carefully stitched into the fabric.   
  
Then she remembered the jacket in her hands. She turned to Wanda, holding out the red leather to her. "Here. Thought you might like it. I saw it in my closet and it doesn't fit me anymore but you're smaller than me so it will probably be okay."  
  
Wanda gave a faint smile before carefully putting it on over her plain black dress without much hesitation. "Thank you." She nodded gently.  
  
"Has to be warmer than a cardigan," she added, fitting her quiver across her back and holding onto her bow for now.  
  
With a final nod to the twins, the trio headed into the main floor where most of the others were gathered.  
  
"No way we all get through this. If even one tin soldier is left standing, we've lost. It's gonna be blood on the floor."  
  
"I got no plans tomorrow night," Steve said without a hint of worry.  
  
"I get first crack at the big guy. Iron Man's the one he's waiting for."  
  
"That's true, he hates you the most," Vision commented casually as he passed the group, leaving Tony with a bitter expression before his eyes landed on the three approaching them.  
  
"Hey. Why aren't you in your suit?" The billionaire gestured to Evie.  
  
"I am," she said, pointing at her jeans, shirt, and jacket.  
  
"No, you're not," Stark denied, and everyone around them looked equally as confused as Summers.  
  
"I don't have a suit. I'm wearing what I normally wear, Tony," she spoke slowly as if he was an idiot.  
  
"You do have a suit. I _made _you one after Barton wouldn't stop pestering me to. I sent it over months ago with Clint's new stuff," Tony claimed, standing up off the arm of the sofa.  
  
"Well, he didn't tell me," Evie said, shrugging and wondering why the hell Clint wouldn't tell her about both asking Tony to make her a suit and why he kept it from her when it _was _made.  
  
Tony nodded slowly in understanding. "Ah. I thought you were just spiting me for the last two missions because you didn't like it. Go ask him for it. If not, I have spare stuff in the lab I could probably piece together in the next few minutes."  
  
  
Evelyn knocked on Clint's door alone, waiting until she heard him call out "yeah?" before opening the door and walking in. "Apparently you have my suit," she said, looking where he was fiddling with the head of an arrow, perched on the end of his bed in his own uniform and long jacket.  
  
He blinked, brow furrowing momentarily before it straightened out. He stood, walking over to his cupboard and pulling out a pile of folded clothes with boots on top, handing it over with a short "here" and sitting back down to resume what he was doing.  
  
Evelyn put the boots on the floor beside the corner desk, unfolding the woven material suit to full height and blinking at the mishmash of brown and navy. It wasn't unlike Clint's own outfit, save for a few minor modifications to the bodice pattern and colour scheme. Though she may have had minor concerns about it when she noticed it looked skintight.  
  
Putting the thought aside, she glanced over at Barton fiddling with his arrowheads, a few she had design before and was actually quite proud of, before sighing and just facing the truth. "About the Vision thing-"  
  
Barton's noise of dismissal cut her off, shaking his head. "I've said it before: I don't care how much your fault it might be. We're gonna beat this thing and then forget it."  
  
_That's assuming we make it out alive,_ Evelyn thought bitterly. "You're disappointed," she said.  
  
Clint paused for a moment, quiet, before he slid his arrows back into the second of the two quivers lying on the bed with a sigh. "Maybe I was. But now I'm more annoyed with Tony being able to rope you back into trouble just as soon as we get you out of it," he groaned.  
  
"I don't go looking for trouble. Trouble usually finds me." Evie smiled softly.  
  
"This is not the time for Harry Potter, Evie." Clint's tone didn't match his eyes because his tone was soft and joking.  
  
"But these are Ravenclaw colours." She pouted, holding out her brown and blue suit in indication.  
  
"Get. Dressed," he hissed, gesturing to the en suite bathroom, but couldn't hide the smile at the corner of his lips.  
  
Evie stuck out her tongue. "Fine, Mr Grumpy Pants."  
  
  
Not long after, by the next morning in fact, they were wheels up in the air flying to Sokovia, earbuds in and weapons ready.  
  
"Ultron knows we're coming. Odds are we'll be riding into heavy fire, and that's what we signed up for. But the people of Sokovia, they didn't. So our priority is getting them out. All they want is to live their lives in peace, and that's not going to happen today. But we can do our best to protect them. And we can get the job done, and find out what Ultron's been building. We find Romanoff, and we clear the field. Keep the fight between us. Ultron thinks we're monsters and we're what's wrong with the world. This isn't just about beating him. It's about whether he's right."  
  
Steve had led the walk into the city for anyone travelling on foot. He'd sent Pietro into the police station to evacuate the city as Wanda used her powers as far as they could stretch to influence the people of Sokovia to pick up and clear the city calmly. Everyone else stood around giving directions to the safest route out while Tony flew ahead trying to locate Ultron.  
  
_"Your man's in the church, boss. I think he's waiting for you."_ The new AI filling everyone's communication earbuds informed him as he flew down into the church, landing in front of the being he created.  
  
"Come to confess your sins?" The robot questioned as Tony joined him.  
  
"Uhhh. Have you been juicing? A little Vibranium cocktail? You're looking, I don't wanna say, puffy..." The billionaire rambled.  
  
"You're stalling to protect the people."  
  
"Well, that is the mission. Did you forget?"  
  
"I've moved beyond your mission. I'm free." As soon as he'd finished speaking, something erupted from the ground at the centre of the church, a Vibranium core he'd placed beneath the floor. He hummed at Tony's silence. "What, you think you're the only one stalling?  
  
FRIDAY quickly scanned the device. _"There's the rest of the Vibranium. Function: still unclear."_  
  
"This is how you end, Tony. This is peace in my time."  
  
The change was sudden and unexpected. What had started as a slow calm vacuation of the city turned into a yelling running mess as Ultron's army of robots suddenly emerged from the ground and the air, starting to attack the city.  
  
"Get off the bridge! Run!" Wanda yelled as the robots descended on the escape route, firing magic into the air as Pietro sped past, zooming back and forth starting to push people out of the city as quickly as he could manage.   
  
Evelyn and Barton ran through the city side by side, firing arrows and shooting taser darts at any robots they could see approaching and clearing a path for the civilians following behind them. The streets quickly littered themselves with heaps of metal, people abandoned cars and houses in groups and crowds to run away from any danger rushing towards them.  
  
But the danger didn't stop. Only meagre minutes into the fighting the earth began to shift beneath them. The ground rumbled and cracked, dist flying at the concrete and soil beneath them cracked open, surrounding the entire city with a chasm. People stopped running and began scrambling away from the edges as Sokovia was suddenly pulled into the air by the Vibraium core.  
  
"FRIDAY?" Tony called out, flying overhead of the city and watching the destruction increase.  
  
_"Sokovia's going for a ride." _The AI responded slowly.  
  
The blue lights for eyes in all of Ultron's robots glowed brightly as they spoke as one, "Do you see? The beauty of it, the inevitability. You rise, only to fall. You, Avengers, you are my meteor, my swift and terrible sword and the earth will crack with the weight of your failure. Purge me from your computers, turn my own flesh against me. It means nothing. When the dust settles, the only thing living in this world... will be metal."


	18. Don't look down

**_"The Vibranium core has got a magnetic field, that's what's keeping the rock together." _**FRIDAY scanned the church as Tony circled the area.  
  
"If it drops?"  
  
**_"Right now the impact would kill thousands. Once it gets high enough: Global extinction."_** The AI, regardless of not being human, could still embody a tone close to emotion, and right now the tone was regret.   
  
"Would now be a bad time to mention I'm not so good with heights?" Evie mumbled, carefully leaning over the edge of the city and looking down at the quickly disappearing ground below as they approached the cloudline. Crowds behind her clambered into clearer zones and evacuated from crumbling buildings, being led to safety by other Avengers patrolling the streets.  
  
Pietro popped up beside her, looking over the edge alongside the mechanic. "Oh, I learned a trick when I was young for dealing with this fear," he said as he took in the gravity of the situation.  
  
"Oh, did you?" She looked up hopefully.  
  
"Yes." He nodded and gave a cheeky smile, leaning close to softly whisper _"don't look down"_ and in a blink, he was gone, and the wind was whipping Evelyn's hair as she stood alone at the edge of the city.   
  
She took a very slow breath in through her nose and turned around to glare after the sarcastic blue blur disappearing behind a collapsing building.   
  
Yeah, she was gonna need therapy after this one.  
  
Swiftly, she pulled an arrow from her quiver and aimed, but upwards to an overhead robot, watching it fall and crash in a crumpled mess at her feet. She sighed. There was a feeling of smug satisfaction in taking down even one of the many robots emerging from every which way, even more with her accuracy getting better, but there was an underlying feeling of tedium at the same time. This must have been how Clint felt after being freed from Loki's control and fighting the Chitauri straight after. She rolled that idea over in her mind, that this had happened on some level before, and they'd won as a team against the vengeful god with a grudge. Past events could predict future ones, right? Their enemy wasn't even human-ish this time. The danger could be killed.  
  
The reality of the situation hit her like a crashing wave and her heart clenched. This time was different. This time she wasn't behind a computer screen or in the lab. She was out here fighting hand-to-hand with the rest of them. She wasn't watching through the cameras in the safety of far away walls. The threat was as real as it could be and the danger was head-on, and unless she was planning on taking a one-step shortcut back to the rest of Sokovia she couldn't run away. Nowhere to hide, nowhere to run, except right back into the fray with her team at her sides at the weapons on her back.  
  
Evelyn had to make a choice: Avenger? Or scared little girl she used to know, cowering away from the bullies without fighting back for herself?  
  
In the end, after everything that had happened to them, her answer would ways be the same. She stood by her team. She stood by her family.  
  
Spying Steve and Thor fighting their way through to the crumbling bridge, she narrowed her eyes and sprinted in their direction.  
  
Steve frisbeed his shield into another robot, running and kicking it through the gut as he grabbed the edge of the vibranium plate, flipping it around and slamming it into the head of the robot, sending it flying off the edge of the city. "Stark, you worry about bringing the city back down safely. The rest of us have one job: tear these things apart. You get hurt, hurt 'em back. You get killed... walk it off."  
  
On that small speech, with only limited eye rolls from the rest of the team, they got to work saving the citizens from falling off the ends of the city and down to their deaths. Evelyn and Steve stayed on the bridge, using anything they could pick up on hand to fend off Ultron's creations until the edge of the bridge began to disintegrate and take with it the cars that had stopped before the ground separated. Steve grasped onto the bumper of a red vehicle with a screaming redhead until the bumper broke and the car slid off into freefall. A passing thunder god quickly flew after the car, grabbing the woman and tossing her back up towards the bridge.  
  
The Captain slid off the edge of the road, grabbing a loose pipe to hold onto and catching the woman's arm with the other, left dangling in the air. Evelyn skimmed the lip of the bridge, grabbing Steve's body and dragging them both back up. It took more strength than she expected, boots skidding a little on the stony ground and eyes widening as the gravity of the two humans strained her muscles. She finally managed to yank them back to the safe ground without falling off the edge herself and happily directed the woman away from the unstable edge back to the main city.  
  
"You're heavier than you look," Evelyn commented and shook out her arms, sorely.  
  
"I had a big breakfast." Steve shrugged, looking around.  
  
_"You can't save them all..."_ The approaching legionnaire interrupted, body clunking closer. Steve tossed his shield into him. _"You'll never..."_  
  
The Captain called his shield back via the suit arm magnet, throwing the robot off the edge of the bridge with the momentum as it was yanked to Steve. "You'll never what? You didn't finish!" he called down after it with a cheeky smile.  
  
The sound of a car landing beside them echoed loudly around the bridge, Thor landing on the hood of the car before hopping down to the ground.   
  
"What, were you napping?" Steve raised an eyebrow, smiling as Thor shook his head at the smug Captain.   
  
Evie pulled out another arrow, shooting the robot approaching Steve's back before it could sneak up on them. It failed to wipe the grandpa's smile off his face, but he gave a polite shrug as if to say he appreciated her saving America's ass from being jumped.  
  
_"Evelyn."_ Something suddenly grabbed the brunette, flying her up into the air away from Steve and Thor with a surprised yelp. Ultron himself had taken the time out of his day to lift her into the air, and Evelyn could already feel more bruises coming her way if she didn't begin punching him in the head, and so quickly started doing that. _"You're bothering me."_ He dropped her when she got too annoying, falling swiftly with the lack of flying support and landed through the windscreen of a car, head knocking back against the metal and disorienting her vision, glass caving in around her body and her bow clattering to the floor.  
  
Giving herself a moment to get over the shock, she snorted and shook her head. "And she sticks the landing, folks. Whoo." Evelyn fist-bumped the air, letting out a pained groan and rubbing away the stinging in her head and hopeful lack of concussion. Sitting up, she did a double-take as she noticed Wanda standing not a few feet away and reasonably worried about her sudden drop-in session with the windscreen. Giving her most reassuring smile, she began to pull herself out of the windshield, glass scattering around but never cutting through the material of her suit. She had to give compliments to Tony's design work, not that she had much time to as another wave charged at them.  
  
Wanda propelled her telekinetic energy at the same time Evelyn created a forcefield. But Wanda's magic passed through it like sand through a sieve, and it decimated the robots on the other side, sending them flying back into rubble and cracked remains of building walls. Evelyn let out a small "huh" as an idea began forming, interrupted by an impact on the shield from a robot flying into and rebounding, the resulting energy rippling through the forcefield and siphoning into the generator, whirring powerfully.  
  
Evie powered it down and the field shimmered into nothing, the blue light on her bracer glowing brightly with the gathered energy._ It had worked. _She looked up in surprised excitement to Wanda who didn't understand what she was grinning about and thought this was definitely an inappropriate situation to be grinning at, but hope swelled in the mechanics' heart as she jumped off the car and grabbed her bow.  
  
Clint appeared from behind, jumping over the hood of the car and aiming three arrows, all separating into different robots and grilling their circuits before looking at the sky and spotting the hoard speedily descending towards them. He quickly began pushing both girls by the upper arm towards a nearby building. "Go, go, move!" He shoved them, stumbling after them as they all clambered towards the crumbling house and out of the line of fire. Clint shoved the two through a window and jumped after them, the glass smashing as they narrowly missed being turned into toast by the outside robots descending on them.   
  
Evie groaned and rolled over to the side, bumping her head against Clint's chest and looking the opposite direction to Wanda crawling on her hands and knees, beginning to mutter to herself. "This is all out fault. How could I let this happen?" she continued as they ducked away from the bits of debris managing to get through the now broken window.  
  
"Hey, hey, you okay?" Clint knelt beside her.  
  
"This is all our fault," she said again, shaking her head and looking more than worse for wear with mused hair and eyes darting all over like a caged animal.  
  
"Hey, look at me. It's your fault, it's everyone's fault, who cares?" The archer gave a dismissive shrug because having the kid suffer a breakdown here was not something they needed right now. He clicked his fingers in front of her face to pull her eyes on him and focus. "Are you up for this? Are you? Look, I just need to know, cause the city is flying. Okay, look, the city is flying, we're fighting an army of robots, and I have a bow and arrow. None of this makes sense."  
  
Something flew through the wall, leaving a hole in the bricks and a gasping enhanced, flinching away from the impact/ Barton sighed, sending an arrow back through the hole and hearing a distant explosion.   
  
"But I'm going back out there because it's my job. Okay? And I can't do my job and babysit. It doesn't matter what you did, or what you were. If you go out there, you fight, and you fight to kill. Stay in here, you're good, I'll send your brother to come and find you. But if you step out that door, you are an Avenger." Clint locked his eyes with Wanda, recognising the hurt, the fear, the frustration sitting just behind the cool blues. If Strucker wasn't already dead, he'd be next on his list for the shit he'd done to the twins and how it had left them. But there was no time for dwelling, and he just tried to tell the enhanced that everything would be okay without speaking the words out loud. And he would have to wait to know if she understood because the blank stare he was receiving was not helpful and they were kind of on a time-sensitive mission here.  
  
"Alright, good chat." Clint tapped her shoulder twice before retrieving an arrow and nocking it on the bowstring, clearing his mind while Evie stood behind with a smile of selfish pride that he didn't see before it was smothered. "Yeah, the city is flying. The city is flying. And your arm is glowing?" he looked confusedly at Evelyn's arm.  
  
The mechanic nodded. "I made an energy transducer in Cho's lab. It converts kinetic into electrical, so an impact on the forcefields I generate is transformed so I can use it instead. It should, in theory, electrify whatever it comes into contact with when I put pressure on the strap covering my palm but I don't know if it works yet. This is a prototype."  
  
"Well, what better time to find out, right?" Clint nodded with a smile, and Evie nodded back, readying her bow. "On my mark." Clint glanced towards the door before ducking back. A pause. "Go."  
  
Both archers jumped back out into the battle, firing and ducking away from the robots programmed to kill anything that wasn't metal. In a flurry of arrows and martial arts, the two worked in tandem together, Evelyn grabbing robots from the air and Barton whacking it over the head with his bow, decapitating it. Then Clint fired another arrow up into a passing legionnaire, causing it to fall and let Evie hit it while holding a fist, watching blue sparks of electricity pulse from the bracer rod into its body and fry its insides, the light successfully leaving its eyes until she unfurled her hand and the electric stopped.  
  
The two looked at each other and nodded silently in congratulations before Barton grabbed the younger agent and dragged them behind another car, narrowly missing a stray flying brick giving him a concussion. Instead, it just gently grazed the top of his head.  
  
"Ow," Clint groaned with the tone of a man who just wanted to go home and pet his dog, eat a sandwich, maybe play the banjo a little bit on the porch step like Natasha kept teasing him about. But his eyes instead were scanning over the edge of the car and the approaching mass of bots, trying to figure out the best plan of attack with his quickly diminishing number of arrows.  
  
Then, because no one could ever make an entrance that wasn't overly dramatic and tension inducing when it came to the Avengers, the doors to the little house swung open and Wanda stepped out, grabbing a robot with her powers and ripping it apart, sending both sides into the rest of the enemies and successfully destroying the ones closest to the archers.  
  
Both went about helping, firing and kicking at others that got close enough for bodily contact before finally, the last one fell to the ground in a heap.  
  
A quick glance around to check there were no more ready to rain from above or crawl out of the ground like creepy demon things, Clint put his fingers to his ear. "Alright, we're all clear here."  
  
_"We are not clear! We are very not clear!" _Steve, sounding busy, replied in a strained voice, multiple noises of impact as background noise to his end of the comms.   
  
"Alright, coming to you."   
  
A sudden rush in the air and Pietro was in front of them, picking up to cradle his sister in his arms before speeding off with a _"Keep up, old man!" _and disappearing off into the distance once again.  
  
Evelyn mentally questioned which side of him she saw more often, front or back.  
  
Clint scowled, raising his bow with an arrow ready. "Nobody would know. Nobody," the old man said, and Evelyn wordlessly put a hand over the front of the bow, her gentle weight lowering his aim to the ground without even looking away from the direction the speedster ran. "He better not have got that one off you," he grumbled under his breath.   
  
Evie just chuckled.  
  
Barton slid the arrow back in his quiver with a headshake and the two began jogging after the twins. "The last I saw him Ultron was sitting on him. Uh, yeah, he'll be missed."   
  
"Quick little bastard," Evie continued mockingly.  
  
Clint smiled. "I miss him already."


	19. No strings on me

"The next wave's gonna hit any minute. What have you got, Stark?" Steve stood at the edge of the flying city with Romanoff overlooking the cloudline.  
  
_"Well, nothing great. Maybe a way to blow up the city. That'll keep it from impacting the surface if you guys can get clear." _Tony flew overhead, firing repulsor blasts at robot crowds converging on the broken roads.  
  
"I asked for a solution, not an escape plan." Steve sighed, looking for any stragglers still running around.  
  
_"Impact radius is getting bigger every second. We're going to have to make a choice," Stark replied._  
  
"Everyone up here versus everyone down there? There's no math there."  
  
"I'm not leaving this rock with one civilian on it."  
  
"I didn't say we should leave." Natasha crossed her arms as Steve turned to her, looking out into the expanse of the open skies. "There's worse ways to go. Where else am I gonna get a view like this?"  
  
_"Glad you like the view, Romanoff. It's about to get better." _A new voice over comms, one everyone listening could recognise in a heartbeat. Like as if it was parting the clouds in the sky to make way, the old face of the Helicarrier made itself known to the Avengers looking at their salvation._ "Nice, right? I pulled her out of mothballs with a couple of old friends. She's dusty, but she'll do."_  
  
"Fury, you son of a bitch." Steve smiled.  
  
"Oooh! You kiss your mother with that mouth?" Fury teased back with a knowing chuckle, making the Captain shake his head.  
  
A rush in the air and Pietro was standing beside Rogers and Romanoff. "This is SHIELD?" he asked, eyes taking in the large hovering aircraft.  
  
_"This is what SHIELD's supposed to be,"_ at another end of the city with Barton and the younger Maximoff able to see the helicarrier, Summers replied.  
  
Pietro cocked his head to the side. "This is not so bad," he admitted.  
  
"Let's load 'em up." Steve nodded the order, and the rest of the team got to work.  
  
"Alright, let's load 'em up! Alright, here we go. Here we go, let's move. Let's go, everyone!" Clint started shuffling people along to the lifeboats, Wanda and Evelyn guiding more and picking off straggler robots that started flying back towards the church.  
  
Less than a minute of loading people onto the carriers later, Tony came back on communications._ "I got it! Create a heat seal. I can supercharge the spire from below."_  
  
**_"A heat seal could work with enough power," _**FRIDAY analysed, running the numbers across Tony's HUD.  
  
_"Thor, I got a plan!"_  
  
"We're out of time. They're coming for the core," Thor signalled, battering another robot into the floor with his hammer.  
  
_"Avengers, time to work for a living."_ Tony turned around mid-air and everyone on the ground began to head back to the church, collectively running, sprinting, and or driving back towards the vibranium core and gathering as Tony dropped down from the sky, gesturing to the core on top of the ground.  
  
"This is the drill. If Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose." He narrated, doing a silent head count of everyone around.  
  
Hulk was the last to arrive, dropping from the sky and crushing a pair of legionnaires into the floor before stumbling into the church, revealing Ultron descending from behind him and hovering a few feet away from the assembled team.  
  
"Is that the best you can do?" Thor challenged loudly, hand gripping his hammer ready.  
  
Ultron's form chuckled, raising a hand to summon a swarm of robots forming an army, jogging and flying towards them through the calamity on the floor surrounding the church building, a line of complete silver and blue stopping in a barricade and staring at them all.  
  
Steve's face slowly fell into a chagrined expression that rivalled that of Clint's. "You had to ask," he said flatly.  
  
"This is the best I can do. This is exactly what I wanted. All of you, against all of me. How could you possibly hope to stop me?" the rogue AI questioned with every ounce of confidence he could fit in his vibranium body.  
  
_"Well, like the old man said:"_ Tony and Steve shared a look before Stark turned to the thing he created and now vowed to destroy. "_Together_."  
  
The Hulk's roar signalled the start, and Avengers and the robots became a blur between each other, clawing and ripping one another apart with anything and everything to defend or attack the vibranium core.   
  
Vision phased his hands through the robots, ripping out their internal wiring and Thor swung his hammer into surrounding crowds. The Hulk tore others apart with his hands as Wanda's crimson powers sparked in clouds surrounding the team. Tony flew overhead, blasting away with his repulsors as Steve broke others into halves with his shield. Evelyn battered a few by stabbing with her arrows as Clint used his bow to strike blows in the heads and Nat short-circuited the automations with her electric blades.

As the attacking army started to thin out, Tony, Thor, and Vision isolated Ultron outside, holding him back with their powers. The heat and energy from the hammer, repulsors, and mind stone slowly started melting this vibranium body and they only stopped when Ultron was stumbling around on the ground, head severely damaged.  
  
_"You know, with the benefit of hindsight--"_ Hulk flung him away across the mess of a city with a single punch, a move that would prove detrimental later, before turning to the remaining robots with a growl, causing them to scatter as he charged after them.  
  
"They're trying to leave the city."   
  
_"We can't let them, not even one. Rhodey."_ Tony commanded through his suit.  
  
"On it," Rhodes replied, flying off with Tony after the remaining army.   
  
"We gotta move out. Even I can tell the air is getting thin. You guys get to the boats, I'll sweep for stragglers. Be right behind you," Steve talked to the remaining Avengers.  
  
"What about the core?" Clint asked.  
  
"I'll protect it," Wanda spoke up, nodding to Clint. "It's my job."  
  
Clint nodded back before looking at the others. "Nat. Evie."  
  
The two girls hopped out of the church and followed Clint into the nearby parking lot, watching him jump in a car and hotwire the engine, climbing in after him. He soon fired it up and started driving back through the carnage and chaos in the direction of the nearest lifeboats. "I know what I need to do." Clint also decided after a moment of driving would be a great idea for casual conversation. "The sunroom. If I knock out that east wall by the patio, it'll make a nice sunspace for Lucky. Put down some toys so he can have his own little indoor gym when it gets colder and stops him trying to run into the fields when it gets muddy, what do you think?"  
  
"It'll save us cleaning up muddy pawprints all the time," Evelyn agreed with a nod.  
  
"Yeah, then we just have to work on cleaning up your muddy bootprints because you don't wipe your feet on the mat, Evie," Clint teased softly, getting a smile from Natasha, and Evie caught herself wondering if it was worth crashing the car by slapping Clint upside the head for a joke.  
  
A few moments later, Clint pulled up beside the lifeboats and cut the engine. "We don't have a lot of time."  
  
"So get your ass on a boat." Natasha nodded, pulling off her seatbelt and jumping out to go and find the Hulk, leaving the two archers to exit the car together and head onto the closest lifeboat.  
  
"If something jumps us, I don't have any arrows left," Evie warned, sliding her empty quiver off and resting it against a bench.  
  
Clint nodded, checking over his shoulder to his own. "I'm down to my last few," he told her.  
  
"Costel? Costel?" A woman nearby was calling out, catching the two Avengers' attention. She was wrapped up in a blanket, sitting on the floor with a bleeding wound on her head. "We were in the market. Costel?!" She called out again, desperately.  
  
With barely a hesitation, both Avengers hopped back off the safety of the lifeboat to find the boy.  
  
Not a few yards away from the lifeboat, they found him. "There!" Evie pointed to the broken remnants of the marketplace where a small boy was attempting to pull himself up from the lower level without hurting himself. The two jogged over, Evelyn definitely not tripping over a loose pipe on her way over before kneeling down. "Costel, right? Are you Costel?" she asked the boy, who's hands were shaking and eyes were looking everywhere but Evelyn. She heard an explosion behind her and the boy's eyes widened. "Don't look at that, look at me. Eyes on me, okay? Take my hand, up we go." She reached out for him, and mercifully he took her hand, Evie pulling him up to their level and Clint supporting his back before picking him up to carry in a bridal style as the boy wrapped his arms around Barton's neck.  
  
In the far distance, the loud sounds of bullets hitting the ground echoed forward. A glance upwards saw Ultron in an abandoned jet, piloting it right towards them as the gun turrets fired at the ground, growing quickly closer. With no close-by cover, Clint screwed his eyes shut and Evelyn powered up her bracer.   
  
What happened next took exactly one second, but felt startlingly longer. Pietro, stood not far away from the archers saw the incoming jet and started running towards them. Evelyn's forcefield was slowly materialising inch by inch as he ran closer in a blur, the shield half-formed by the time he reached them. And then suddenly, Barton, Costel, and Summers were all behind a car and out of the line of fire.  
  
Evie blinked, her head spinning from the sudden force shoving her to the side, and her forcefield growling fully formed in front of her, but the incoming bullets nowhere near them anymore. She furrowed her brow, looking around, and then her heart stopped dead as her shield powered down.  
  
Standing barely steps away with his arms out, panting heavily and with multiple bleeding red bullet holes in the lower section of his body was the eldest enhanced Maximoff. His icy blue eyes met hers, and it was like a moment of electricity connected them both as the realisation of what had happened settled in.  
  
"You didn't see that coming."  
  
Pietro's body lost all balance, his heartbeat slowing to a stop, and his body fell limp to the ground.   
  
Evie didn't feel herself move, but she was suddenly on her knees beside him. "Pietro?" Evelyn held his cool cheek with the gentleness of a feather, feeling a light tremor pass through her fingers. "Pietro, talk to me." Her voice took on a shaky softness, almost a plead. With no reply, her face scrunched up, eyes burning. "Don't you _dare _die on me you bastard." She took him by the shoulders, shaking his lifeless body as if he would suddenly spring up with that smart-ass smirk of his and start to laugh. But that didn't happen. The Sokovian's body remained limp and motionless in her hands and she dropped him back to the floor, mud smearing his already dirtied cheek. She hadn't saved him. Her shield had only been able to save his torso, nothing else. And now he was gone.  
  
Boots entered her vision but she didn't look up from the body. Instead, Steve above her exchanged glances with Barton who still held closely onto the kid in his arms, luckily unharmed. Then there were arms pulling Pietro's body up from the floor and into a foreman's carry by the Captain, as someone else put their hand on her shoulder, gently shaking her. For a moment, everything went silent in her head, a light ringing fuzzing through her head before the hand on her shoulder grew firmer and the shaking became rougher. She eventually looked to see Clint staring at her and lifting her up by the underarm, dragging her awkward body across the ground back towards the lifeboats.  
  
Am explosion beside them, and a scream was ripped from Evelyn's throat as a chunk of concrete collided with her shoulder, and she felt before she heard the pop of dislocation. Still, Clint tugged her whining form across the ground in a desperate stumble until they reached the lifeboat and he let her crumple onto a nearby bench. Barton delivered Costel safely to his mother before taking up the bench across from Evelyn.  
  
"No, no. I'm fine. Look at her." He guided a paramedic when they started to try looking at him and his bleeding side, apparently one of the bullets having grazed him in the fight.  
  
The paramedic turned and knelt in front of Evelyn hunched over gripping her shoulder and quickly found the problem. Giving a quick explanation to the distant-eyed archer, the medic put his hands on her arm and twisted it so the joint popped back into place. "Gah, fuck!" Evelyn yelled out unexpectedly as her arm began burning as it was moved back into place. She winced when she noticed all the children around, offering a short "sorry" as the paramedic checked her arm over properly and if she'd need a sling. Luckily, it wasn't that bad, and she was left alone in a painful heap.   
  
Clint groaned, lying down and refusing the paramedics that came to try and treat him. He brushed them off as he laid down, clearly in pain. "Oh, it's been a long day," Barton sighed, closing his eyes, drained, face dirty and cut up along with the other parts of his body nod hidden by his suit.  
  
Evelyn wasn't much better, caked in dust and dirt with a few rips in her suit she'd yet to notice. And now her shoulder was trying to kill her.  
  
She was distracted by movement beside her as a familiar body was dropped lifelessly on the floor of the lifeboat. It was silly that she'd almost forgotten for a second. She blinked down to see the dead face of the Maximoff covered with bullet holes all bleeding and blue eyes icy and inanimate. She swallowed, feeling a freezing chill crawl over her spine and into her stomach. She should be used to casualties by now, especially after New York and Coulson's sacrifice, but it felt like a string was pulling on her stomach and readying her to empty the contents onto the bench beside her.  
  
He didn't deserve this. He was just a kid. A brat and an incredibly obnoxious enhanced who couldn't sit still for five minutes, yes, but he was still a kid. And he died trying to do the right thing.  
  
Evelyn blinked for a long moment, her eyelids suddenly incredibly heavy. She decided maybe following Clint's lead wasn't a bad idea, her body certainly agreed, lying herself down with a wince at her shoulder onto her bench and closing her eyes. Letting fatigue quickly take her into an exhausted sleep, the last thing she felt were the itchy lines falling from her eyes and over her cheeks.


	20. Recovery

Wanda had always had an interest in books growing up. Her mother owned enough books to call their house a miniature library, and when she was younger, she'd vowed to read every single one... even if she didn't understand the material. Which, only having been in the house until she was ten, was a lot more common than not. But she still tried. So, now she knew the value of picking up a book, it was relaxing, it focused your mind on something other than your own thoughts, and right now it was a welcome distraction as the team did their best to come down from the mission.  
  
She had been moved into a recovery room, and upon her own insistence, had had a still unconscious Evelyn moved to the second bed, courtesy of an additional sedative upon realising her side had been bleeding out while asleep. Both had been otherwise minimally tended to, and Wanda was settled on her own bed with a holoscreen gifted by Tony as Clint sat on a chair by the door and fussed over herself and the littler archer. She thought she should have been able to practically _feel _their connection radiating off him, even without her abilities, the way he talked and mused in a similar fashion to her own mother. She imagined that was partly due to Pietro weighing on his own mind as well. And it took great convincing by the Captain and Wanda together, almost reaching for her manipulation power it seemed that dire, for Clint to get up and give in his mission report, promising a speedy return before shutting the door behind him.  
  
Wanda had just settled back against the headboard with her holoscreen, bundled up comfortably and enjoying having her mind lost in the words of the book she'd found in the selection. Tony had apparently put the forethought in for finding English-to-other translations and had implemented a Sokovian option, too. Though Wanda had always better than her brother at translations, it was simpler to read in her mother tongue when the option was available.  
  
It was maybe ten minutes or so after Clint left, and there was a shifting movement in her peripherals. Evie was waking up. She squirmed a little on the bed, face scrunched ever so slightly like she was trying to itch her nose without using her hand. It was cute, if Wanda were honest, and reminded the witch Evelyn wasn't that much older than herself - perhaps two years difference or so?-  
  
"Good morning," Wanda greeted as softly as possible. Considering the state Evelyn woke up in by the Cradle at their first meeting, it was worth being wary as to not send her into some similar form of shock. And it seemed to work, the mechanic's closed-eyes expression growing steadily more scrunched until she attempted prying her eyes open, blinking at the soft glowing white light above filling her vision. For a split second, she expected to see Jesus. But then she angled her head to the side at the sound of a button clicking and saw the youngest Maximoff watching over her from the bed a few steps away with the holoscreen display falling dark in hand. The Sokovian was sitting in her pj's, barely any scratches covering her body aside from a split lower lip and a bruise on her right cheek, all delicately wrapped in a cosy little blanket nabbed from the closet in the corner.  
  
The rest of the room was fairly spartan, two twin beds with matching bedside tables and lamps, a vanity in the corner covered by Wanda's personal belongings -or lack thereof- and that large closet opposite that no doubt filled with a grand selection of robes and daywear as was customary with any Stark room because Tony was extra like that.  
  
Evie wet her lips, bringing her eyes back to the fellow brunette, voice cracking a little as she asked, "Is it over?"  
  
Wanda nodded minutely, setting the holoscreen to the side on the bed. "It's over," she confirmed.  
  
"Fantastic," Evie breathed out a long sigh before attempting to shift her body upwards from her lying position, and in doing so successfully twisted her arm the wrong way. "Ow!" She sat up all the way in a heartbeat, clutching her shoulder and then her head at the nausea swiftly flooding her head.  
  
"What's wrong?" Wanda shuffled a little closer to the edge of her bed.  
  
Evelyn grunted as she felt the shocks roll through her arm and fizzle out into the rest of her body. It was just as much of a bitch as she remembered. Why was it always the arm with her?  
  
"My shoulder dislocated on the way back to the lifeboat when I was with- Clint!" Evelyn's train of thought landed on the archer and his lack of presence in the room with them. Though there was that chair by the door Evelyn could have sworn should have been under the vanity, with a familiar backpack sitting slouched on it.  
  
Wanda adjusted the blanket around herself. "Clint is fine. He said he would return once he had given in his report. Not without putting up a little bit of a fight with the Captain, before though." Her tone was fond, as was her smile, as she leaned a little over the bed, one leg folding out from underneath her to dangle off the edge.  
  
Evelyn allowed the words to register, slowly calming herself from her mid-morning panic attack to return to her regularly scheduled not-great-but-getting-there programme. "What day is it?"  
  
"Wednesday. The 14th."  
  
Evie blinked hard, reopening her eyes to a slightly fuzzy room before things focussed, and painlessly as possible shifted to face Wanda with a scrutinous look. "Are _you _alright? Nothing shot, nothing broken?" Her eyes scanned up and down the younger brunette.  
  
Wanda shook her head, softly. "I wasn't very broken to begin with."  
  
Evie nodded, sated, and rolled out her uninjured shoulder, letting out a small sigh as the tension loosened. "How are you holding up, then? After..." She made a vague gesture to everywhere, and then to Wanda herself, the images of Pietro springing freshly to mind the more she came back into consciousness. His electric blue eyes turned pale, face marred by the dirt and soot covering the ground like a blanket. It was permanently etched into her brain now.  
  
"I don't know. I've been distracting myself," Wanda said honestly with a hint of shame, "but, it is like I can feel everything at once and at the same time nothing at all. I feel like I am... drifting." Wanda lifted her hand, making gentle motions ith her fingers to spark light red magic flowing gently through them like ribbons. Evie compared Wanda's description to it coinciding with the same feeling as her magic would hold, just lingering under the skin but still a fixed feeling that would never be shaken. To the mechanic, it felt more like something invisible to the eyes pressing down on her chest and stomach, but she kept that quiet.  
  
Wanda frowned at her hand, dropping it to her lap. "They told me that he saved you and Clint," she pressed on.  
  
"I couldn't have stopped him."  
  
"No one could have," Wanda admitted. At Evie's scrunching expression and head moving away to stare at the wall, the younger continued, "Pietro, even before the experiments, had a habit of running into things he didn't understand head-first."'  
  
"Same," the mechanic joked quietly, recalling the whole reason she was even sat beside Wanda in the first place, before bringing her head back around to face the abandoned sister. "It's still not okay," she said quietly.  
  
Wanda shuffled further up her bed to sit directly across from Evelyn. "Pietro made his choice. He moves and thinks faster than anyone around can halt him, and it happened faster than, um, Clint said: "faster than I can shoot an arrow". There was nothing that could have been done. Not by Clint, not by me, and not by you. The same as I, you cannot blame yourself."  
  
Evie didn't have an answer for that. It might have been true but it still didn't settle well in her head. She could already feel it scratching at the corners of her still fuzzy mind, questions of _"what if?"_ and _"what would have happened had I..?" _running around in circles. And then the look of his eyes when he fell to the ground, electric to ice. It would without a doubt be a reoccurring nightmare to come, she could just feel it.  
  
"The ceremony is tomorrow. They won't let me see the body." Wanda's statement brought Evie out of her thoughts and back to focusing on current events.  
  
"It would only make things worse." Evie tried her best to focus on comforting the broken sister. After all, it may have been her teammate, but Pietro was Wanda's brother. Evelyn being an only child couldn't even begin fathoming how much hurt was really wrecking Wanda from the inside, and so offering what little comfort she could she hoped would be worthwhile.  
  
"He's my brother. I should be able to see him at rest." Wanda folded her arms, blanket pulling tighter around her thin, almost fragile frame.  
  
"You will. Tomorrow," Evie promised, trying to shake the incessant feeling crawling up her back. Those eyes would forever haunt her dreams.  
  
The latch of the door clicking open made both women look to the door, where they saw a familiar archer quietly poking his head in and glancing between them before smiling softly and stepping inside. "Hey, look who's awake." He nodded at Evelyn, and have a small nod of recognition to Wanda who smiled as warmly as she could manage back to him. As the door clicked shut behind him, Clint furrowed his brow at the elder female. "You look like you're about to be sick. You want a bag?"  
  
Evie shook her head, swallowing and clearing her throat. "No. No thank you. But painkillers would be nice, though." She shifted around on the bed, hissing as a few tender spots flared to life, her shoulder in particular she began massaging softly.  
  
"Yeah, that's gonna take time to heal. As are those," Clint said, and it took Evie a second to register he was pointing to her arms and torso. Looking down, she noticed the little scrapes and marks made over her suit and the uncovered patches of her skin. She was also pretty sure her cheek had been bleeding but the cuts she could see looked suspiciously taken care of.  
  
She looked up at Clint, himself looking not particularly great but still in better condition than her. "Are _you _okay?" she asked.  
  
"I'll live," Clint replied, and his eyes began to wander around. "That's more than some of us can say," he added with a whisper, almost quiet enough the girls might have missed it or dismissed the noise as Clint acting his age and mumbling to himself, but they heard the addition.  
  
"Did anyone else-"  
  
"No. Thank God for small mercies." Clint sat at the edge of her bed and gently patted Evelyn's knee soothingly.   
  
Evelyn whined pitifully, pulling her leg closer to her as he put pressure on a bruise she didn't know existed. "Go easy on me, I'm injured."  
  
"I got patches and painkillers if you're willing to think about being a zebra for a few hours," the archer offered.  
  
"Not while I'm in the same building as Tony Stark, I'm not. Maybe later," the mechanic gently refused. If Tony caught wind of her lack of tolerance for drugs and found her in such a lowered inhibitions state, she'd never hear the end of it... or get it removed off the internet.  
  
Wanda meanwhile sat watching the two, quietly. She knew she was missing a joke of some sort but just tried smiling politely as they interacted.  
  
"Your shoulder should recover so long as you don't do any heavy lifting for a while. The muscle's ripped so Cho gave me some healing balm for it, and you get free massages for a week." Clint gave a sympathetic smile and a thumbs up with both hands.  
  
"Clint, if someone even so much as talks too loud right now, I think I might vomit. And I'd really rather keep any remaining food inside my body for now. No need for a sore throat on top of everything else."  
  
"It could be worse. You could have caught a cold," Wanda suggested softly, causing Evie to pause, chuckle, and nod her head.  
  
"Yeah, probably. Hey, and be thankful you don't have to deal with Mother Hawk here looking over you twenty-four seven. I doubt he'd let you out of his sight after this whole ordeal." She jutted a thumb at Clint, rubbing her head with her free hand to massage any oncoming pains away in hopes of not going back on her promise of no painkillers.   
  
"Well, actually..."   
  
Evie pulled her hand away from her face with a questioning hum and squinted look. Clint's eyes flicked over to Wanda who's own eyes were looking away from the other bed. Evelyn furrowed her brow, gaze flicking between the two of them with the utmost suspicion of just what the hell that was supposed to mean. "How long was I asleep for?" she asked, eyes narrowing at the two.  
  
"On the plane back we had some time to talk. Wanda doesn't have a permanent home anywhere, especially not in America, and while Tony has offered to both set Wanda up with her identity papers and visas, it was doubtful she would feel comfortable staying in the Tower itself, at least so soon after what's happened. So I suggested that Wanda comes and stays at the farmhouse for a while," Clint explained.  
  
"Oh," Evie said. It made sense, she supposed. And she probably wouldn't feel right leaving Wanda alone either.  
  
Clint nodded, looking to the enhanced. "Have you decided? No rush, kid." Evie smiled at the use of the name "_kid_" used on Wanda instead of her for the first time.  
  
"I'm not sure..." Wanda shifted uncomfortably, the blanket corner sliding through her fingers fidgetingly. "Where will you be?" she asked the mechanic.  
  
Evie sucked through her teeth. "I don't really feel like going back to my apartment alone. I'm definitely going to go make sure my grandparents know I'm alright but after that, I was hoping I could come to get my room back at yours?" She looked hopefully at Clint.  
  
"No one should be alone after a mission like this," Clint agreed, and much more considerately than last time gave her a pat on the uninjured shoulder. "Also, Stark and Rogers were in it last. Natasha said it sounded like they were fighting with the yelling and loud thumping noises. Might wanna give it the once over just in case."  
  
"The way you say that makes it sound like they were..." Evie locked her fingers together on both hands in a vague gesture. Clint's expression was stoic and remained that way for the few seconds Evie stared at it. Eventually, she clicked her tongue, nodding slowly and mumbling to herself, "yeah, I'm bleaching _everything _in that room now."  
  
"It's up to you then, kid," Clint said to the younger brunette sat watching the two curiously. She felt her brother may have understood whatever joke had passed between them and for once felt thankful to be out of the loop.  
  
"If you're going, I will too," she decided finally with a firm nod.  
  
Evie smiled and fist-bumped the air as enthusiastically as her injuries would allow. "It'll be good to have another girl around the place. I was starting to feel outnumbered between him and Lucky."  
  
Clint looked up. "Oh, that's something I may have forgotten to mention. Uh, Wanda... how much do you like dogs?"


	21. Bittersweet

Returning home had never been the same since high-school, Evelyn realised. It wasn't something that had suddenly occurred to her one night lying awake in insomnia, but instead, it was a thought that pieced itself together slowly with more and more evidence as she grew older. Whether it was walking back to her grandparents to reassure them she didn't die or suffer serious injuries on their last mission, or heading back to Clint's and having Lucky greet them at the door with excited relief, returning home had not been the same since this all started.   
  
It was a bittersweet idea that settled in the back of her mind like an itch. Things changed. That was just what they did. And whether they changed for better or for worse, Evelyn knew she was not the same person now than she was at eighteen.  
  
The service the next day had been... miserable. Their new headquarters had a memorial set up for the fallen hero inside the building and a graveyard secluded in the gardens outside, privatised to only the Avengers. Wanda had stood silent as they lowered the casket into the ground, the rest of the team gathered silently and dressed in the customary attire befitting a funeral. Clint and Evelyn bracketed her on either side, Evie at one moment reaching to squeeze Wanda's hand in hopeful assurance, and Clint a hand on her shoulder in solid support. The youngest Maximoff had stood before the grave and recited a passage in her mother tongue, later explaining it to be a poem their parents regularly read to them before bedtime, before throwing a handful of soil into the ditch finally ready to keep its secrets buried six feet underground. They hadn't let her seen the body and though she couldn't blame them, the feeling of losing her twin had been bad enough but unable to see it was psychological torture.  
  
After the ceremony and condolences paid, Clint suggested Evelyn take Wanda with her to see her grandparents while he went ahead to set Wanda's room at the house and settle Lucky enough for guests. Evelyn agreed and Wanda with only slight hesitation accompanied her. It wasn't a lengthy visit after being crushed by the surprisingly strong hugs of two slightly overprotective guardians and the explanation that TV wasn't always accurate, her grandparents more than delighted to meet the new company and new friend Evie brought along. The sombre mood from the service lingered in the air like a thin fog even after they'd left the courtyard, and Wanda greatly appreciated they didn't stay too long at Evelyn's grandparents before they were clambering back into Clint's car and heading to the farmhouse. Evie had silently bitten her lip raw inside, realising that Wanda had no family left now, but Evelyn had, and had just inadvertently rubbed it in her face. It seemed the mechanic couldn't stop making things worse.  
  
Finally arriving back at the house after a silent journey, the radio not having been given a single thought in the misery, Clint and Evelyn led Wanda through the door only to be assaulted by the one-eyed canine bounding up to them. Wanda didn't seem phased at all but wasn't questioned, allowing the retriever to sniff her hand before being petted without words. After the short meeting, Evelyn and Clint escorted Wanda upstairs to her new room and Clint returned downstairs to make a start on lunch. With nothing but a bag full of clothes she didn't buy, Wanda sat down on the plump bed with a sigh, head falling forward and staring at her shoes on the lacquered floor.  
  
Evie stood silently by the door, unsure of how to fill the silence, if she should fill it at all. The clock on the far wall's ticking seemed mocking as it loudly counted the seconds passing by, the lack of personal furnishings in the spare room causing a light echo after every noise. Had it always been that empty in here?  
  
"We should go shopping at some point," Evelyn's first words since her grandparents cut through the stillness like shattering glass, and she inwardly winced as soon as she'd spoken.  
  
Wanda responded with a slight nod, eyes not leaving her black ankle boots scuffed and marked by time on the run.  
  
Evelyn decided to push on, "We could buy you some new clothes, perhaps paint the walls. Hang up a few pictures, maybe."  
  
Another quiet nod.  
  
Evelyn sighed, pushing away from the door and gently lowering herself onto the bed beside the witch, dipping with the added weight. "I've never had siblings. I'm sorry that I can't imagine how this feels for you," she said softly.  
  
"I feel like I'm going to walk downstairs and see him sitting at the table. Sitting there with that stupid grin on his face like when he does something I said he couldn't do. He's just going to be there smiling and laughing at me for worrying. Little Sister worrying for Big Brother over nothing," Wanda folded her arms over her stomach, body curling up into herself like a protective ball. "Even as children, he was always there, always teasing and protecting me, and I, in turn, did the same for him. Now he's gone. And I'm... I don't feel like my chest is full. I feel incomplete. Drifting."  
  
Evelyn watched Wanda for a long moment, chest squeezing as she remembered the blue eyes staring up at her. Sparkling with mischief, and then ice cold. She swallowed, reaching out as if on reflex to hold her hand before she caught herself and locked her own fingers to stop her from doing it again, unwarranted. "Its..."  
  
Evelyn struggled for the words. What could she say? She'd never had a brother or a sister. Even if she'd lost her parents, she still had people left in her life. Wanda did not. Wanda and Pietro had been together for years since their parents had been lost in the bombings, holding onto each other like their own hearts and protecting each other from the world that claimed their freedom, their rights, their family, and their lives. Both twins were the other's world, and now Wanda's had been shattered and dusted away under the rug amidst fighting to protect the world that scorned them. Left a lost little girl at the mercy of the world flooding in around her. How does someone make you feel better after that? How could she fix things? Was this even something that could be fixed? Evelyn wasn't sure. But a start would be not forcing Wanda to have only Pietro forever, and that was something she could and would do. Clint had taught her enough about having people who care even when you didn't think there could be anymore. So she could damn well do her best to prove that to someone else who needed to hear it.  
  
"Your brother loved you, anyone could see that, and would do everything he could to protect you. He may not be here to do that anymore, but he will always be a part of you, inside." Evelyn tapped her chest just over her heart, pushing away a wince at an unknown bruise she pushed on as Wanda glanced up at her for the first time since sitting down. Evelyn sighed, "I know that right now it definitely sounds like the biggest truckload of bullshit you could ever hear, but even though it may feel like it, you aren't alone. Me and Clint? The team? We're here for you. It's not going to be alright in a day, or a week, or even a month. Hell, it's probably still not going to be completely okay after a year. But things can be better and there will be days where things are alright again. But on the days where things aren't okay, where the memories and the nightmares and the regrets creep back into your mind and the self-hatred starts bubbling away at you, we'll be here. To help and to hold and to remind you that you are not alone anymore, Wanda. Not if you don't want to be."  
  
Wanda stayed silent, thinking, for a while. Then she admitted, "it is hard to believe you."  
  
"I know." Evie could understand that. "But you're still here, and you're here with us. No one expects you to be fine right now or to stay. You can do whatever you want, but remember there is always someone back here happy to talk and remind you they care."  
  
Wanda nodded as if she believed her wholly, even if her mind was still on the edge of disbelief. But for the girl that had spent just over a week with her, and looked after her and Pietro when they returned to the hands of the other Avengers she offended and nearly tried to kill, it sounded so hopeful. It sounded like a chance.  
  
Wanda looked to the mechanic sat quietly beside her, and tentatively reached out one arm towards Evelyn, pausing halfway as she hesitated. Evie watched the movement and cautiously reached up to take the outstretched hand in hers, and reached it around the back of her shoulders so that Wanda's arm embraced her, and it kept Wanda in control of the contact. The young Maximoff nodded, more to reassure herself than the mechanic, and shuffled a little closer on the bed. Evie's arm came up behind and wrapped around Wanda's own shoulders, fingers softly tangling in the dark brunette locks and gently petting. After a moment, she felt Wanda's head resting gently on her shoulder, and then more heavily when she wasn't shoved away in disgust. The two breathed deep, the first real contact and connection either of them had had since the battle, and relaxed as the rest of the world fell away into a still silence.  
  
It was only at Clint's beckoning call of lunch being ready that the two even considered moving from their position. Slowly untangling themselves, both trod down the stairs and into the kitchen where Clint was just setting the table, him at the head and one plate on either side of him.  
  
"Everything alright?" Clint asked as they stood in the doorway, taking his seat and picking up a fork.  
  
"Getting there," Evie said as she sat in her usual spot and Wanda seated herself in the last space.  
  
"That's the most any of us can hope for," he mumbled gently, soothingly, and the girls began to tuck in. It was a simple pasta meal, uncertain of Wanda's dietary preferences, but they would change accordingly as the house settled into its new routines. Lucky was more than happy to sit at Clint's feet patiently as he was fed bits of plain pasta from his master's fingers.  
  
Wanda had managed around half of her dish before she spoke up, fork twirling around the pasta without much enthusiasm. "I didn't apologise to the others - to you. For what we did under Ultron's mentoring," she said, face scrunching like she felt sick just saying that.  
  
A beat.  
  
"I forgive you," Evie responded, another forkful pushing into her mouth.  
  
It sounded too easy to Wanda, practically blase, but as more and more of the words from upstairs ran through her head, it seemed less and less like a lie.  
  
Clint nodded after a moment, setting down his fork on the table. "So do I. And I'm sure the rest understand. If they don't, well, I'm sure given time they'll get it. We've all done things we regret, made stupid choices that we thought were for the greater good, and turns out we were so incredibly wrong." He snorted at himself, brain skimming through most of his early years at SHIELD and the mischief that had him buried in piles of punishing paperwork and leaving Coulson rubbing his head with his trademark _Why Do I Still Work Here?_ look. "We don't go out looking for trouble, trouble comes looking for us, and it has come looking for us in the shapes of aliens and gods and robots with daddy issues and a terrorist organisation that's been around since the beginning of the world wars, to name a few. It's all one giant mess but in the end, it's our mess, and we'll take the punches and throw a few punches back along the way."  
  
"Or arrows," Evelyn butted in.  
  
"Or arrows. Yes," Clint replied tightly at the tease, narrowing his eyes playfully in jest. Then he reached out, fingers poking her cheekbones before pinching the skin between his fingers fondly like a child.  
  
Evelyn batted his pinching hand away with a snort. "Get off," she said, eyes full of challenge as he went to do it again to the other cheek.  
  
Wanda found herself smiling at the little display, her food almost completely forgotten on her plate as she watched the two Avengers begin to engage in a slap-fight. Maybe things could get better. Just maybe.


	22. Syrup

After the first month at the farm, the trio had settled into some form of a healthy routine.  
  
During the first week, Wanda had barely left her designated room, only leaving for food or when Evelyn and Clint tried to coax her downstairs to watch the TV or accompany them on a walk with Lucky or maybe even just to take a wander into the garden. They avoided putting pressure on the younger, allowing her to settle by herself and imagining she would adjust and adapt soon enough and be exploring the house as if she weren't confined just to her own room like a prisoner.  
  
The second week was more successful. Wanda accepted Evelyn's invitation to be shown around the secluded part of the garden where Wanda quickly agreed she felt the itch in her hand to reach for a book, and it quickly became a daily visit for her and the holopad Stark had let her keep when they left the Tower post-funeral. Lucky had stayed outside Wanda's bedroom door every night since she arrived, playing guard dog to their new guest and quickly gaining a new best friend, the Maximoff happy to give pets to the canine who stood proudly to protect her.  
  
Lucky reminded her of being a young child in her hometown, playing and laughing in the streets and petting the scruffy dogs the owners would sometimes walk by their little playspot by the baker's store. They'd not been able to afford the sweeter treats from that store often, only drab bread and tasteless butter. She remembered Pietro being quick even without his powers, stealing them little treats from the outside displays whenever he could. They were always so sweet and syrupy, leaving their hands sticky with whatever glaze the baker had used on the buns after scoffing them down behind the alleyway trashcans.   
  
The third week Wanda began accepting invitations to come downstairs and watch TV, even if the cheesy soap operas Clint tended to favour were a bit tacky and she didn't understand all the cultural references that were met with recorded studio laughter. Evelyn didn't look too interested either, which led to the girls sitting in the kitchen with an old jigsaw puzzle Clint dug out from under the stairs. It had been missing five pieces when they finished, but it kept them occupied all the same, especially when Wanda had started gently picking out edge pieces among the messy pile and separate them into another. Evelyn wore a fond smile once she noticed her input, and Wanda matched her smile as she was reminded of the playing cards in Cho's lab, then her brother, and then she lost her smile again.   
  
The fourth week seemed to be when things finally settled properly into place. By the second week in June, the tension in the house had slowly ebbed away and almost seemed to leech out almost completely. Almost, as some feelings still lingered in those moments of silence and stillness for everyone. The gym had been used much more frequently than usual by the agents, as was to be expected after coming down from a mission. Missions go wrong, that was part of the job description. Both were supposedly used to it by now after years working together through various means and facing a multitude of threats. It wasn't even Evelyn's first time being kidnapped. But this was a whole lot different for the both of them - both had been rattled right to the core and both had been practically shaking when they'd trained in the same room for the first time in weeks.  
  
Clint had brushed sparring off the table as soon as Evelyn had suggested it, saying they needed slow recovery from their injuries. The mechanic pouted but had to agree, with her bruises and shoulder a constant pain that needed extremely careful stretching before she could use her body for anything strenuous and only able to take half a painkiller at a time to still be somewhat lucid. But by the fourth week, Clint allowed _-probably only because Evelyn was practically begging by this point-_ for them to spar again. And between the flying fists and feet, the tension strung high in either agent's body melted like butter in a pan.  
  
On Thursday of the fourth week, it was time for the first proper outing together. So far, both Evelyn and Clint had (privately) agreed not to leave Wanda without company in the house, either one if not both of them constantly in the same room as the enhanced unless she returned to her own room and didn't invite anyone else to go with her. And Wanda always remained at home with Lucky on Thursday when the two archers headed to the Farmer's Market, but today Evelyn was not letting the witch get cabin fever, all but dragging the younger woman out with them as they headed down the road towards the market. Wanda didn't seem too thrilled to be too far away from the farmhouse but she just took the deep breaths Clint advised and followed them, arms folded over her chest and hugging the red jacket Evelyn had gifted her in that storage closet tightly around her regardless of the warm temperature. No one commented on it.  
  
When they reached the market, they mulled around the quiet stalls in their usual routine, browsing shelves of stalls they'd never purchased from as they neared the ones they actually used.  
  
"If you see anything that interests you, don't be afraid to speak up," Clint told Wanda with a small nod before moving on ahead towards his own goal, leaving Evie wandering leisurely with the enhanced.  
  
They moved through a few coloured stalls with decorative charms and various household furnishings before strolling into the food section. Evie stopped walking once she realised the witch was no longer beside her but instead had paused to look at a small sweet stall a little further into the marketplace. Walking up behind her to see the baked goods she was eyeing, she softly asked, "you want?"  
  
Wanda broke from whatever childhood memory she'd been entranced by, shaking her head. "I don't want to impose."  
  
Evelyn looked at her. "If its the money you're concerned about, you were pretty largely compensated for saving the world, you know. Probably should have mentioned this earlier but Stark got you a card for yourself." Evie rummaged around in her hoodie pockets, retrieving her purse and pulling out a plain, platinum coloured card before handing it over. "The PIN is your birthday. And if the stall doesn't take card, I have cash. In fact, I might get something as well." she said, eyes scanning over the food as her belly cramped in sudden sweet hunger.  
  
Wanda bought her food first, opting for the oh so familiar sweet roll that tasted just as good as she remembered if slightly more pastry than glaze than she recalled. And while Evelyn was making her decision as she nibbled on the sweet sticky bun, her eyes caught onto a group of kids no older than Evelyn hanging around a stall two down from them and eying the two with glares, but what Wanda found interesting was that they were glaring more towards Evelyn than her. Glancing away, she could hear their whispers a little clearer, and none of the things they were saying where anywhere near polite but she couldn't stop listening. Not until Evelyn was waving a hand in front of her face to bring her out of her daydream.  
  
"Why do they talk about you like that?" Wanda blurted out, and Evie raised an eyebrow. The witch nodded her head in the direction of the group and Evie turned to look, eyes fixing on the strangers she once knew, scoffing at them and rolling her eyes before beginning to lead Wanda in another direction.  
  
"Not everyone appreciates being saved," she said once they were further away from the crowd. "Specifically, not when they used to bully one of the people who's saved their asses on more than one occasion. Makes them feel awkward, you know?" The girl smiled bitterly.  
  
"Why not say something to them?" Wanda glanced back at the group who had now disappeared from sight. She tugged uncomfortably on the sides of her jacket again.  
  
"No point starting a fight so soon after the last one. Plus, I dealt with that problem years ago and I'd rather not spark up another dispute now that they've left me alone." Evie shrugged dismissively, stopping at another stall with decorative notebooks and pens. "Not to mention that if anyone tries to put me down, I just remind myself that while they would jump at the opportunity for even just a photo with the Avengers, I can put out a call for dinner and more often than not everyone on the team will be sitting around the kitchen table in less than a couple of hours." Another shrug as she picked up a plain black leather-covered notebook, handing it over to buy. After the purchase, she looked at Wanda standing beside her quietly. "You could do exactly the same if you wanted, you know," she told her.  
  
"I'm sure you're underestimating how much everyone on your team likes me."  
  
Evie hummed, "Hey, I felt the same way when we were first all together in the same room. I pulled these caped crusaders into a team at the start. And after Clint got taken, we argued amongst ourselves a lot but eventually worked out the differences and Stark and Rogers got over their little measuring contest. We fought, we rescued, we won, and then you know what we did? We went out for dinner together at a diner Tony crashed into a car in front of ten hours beforehand,"  
  
"And as I sat there looking at everyone around the table, just sitting casually like friends at a cafeteria table in school, I can't tell you how small I felt. I'm a mechanic, I'm a consultant, but I'm not an Avenger. I had a hand in saving the world, sitting in Control in the Helicarrier and watching both the skies and ground for them, but I wasn't on the front line. And I don't mind that. But after New York and after having whatever the hell Shwarma is at that little restaurant, everyone on the team declared that whenever one of us needed help, no matter what it was, everyone that could would come running. Even just for little ol' me."Her smile started small, but it grew wide within a second as she acknowledged her own words. "Sure, mistakes have been made before and not everyone on the team likes everyone else equally but we're family. And family sticks together."  
  
Wanda stayed quiet for a moment, arms crossed over her front dropping to the sides as her shoulders relaxed from the hunched defence. "Thank you." She nodded, and she meant it.  
  
Evie smiled, tapping her shoulder the same as Clint had done to her so many times, so she understood the reassurance of the contact.  
  
"You guys find anything you liked?" Clint's approaching voice broke the moment as he joined them with a plastic bag in hand.  
  
"Yeah. Finished pampering your delicate skin yet, lavender boy?" Evie teased, turning to face him.  
  
"You love that lavender shower gel. Don't think I don't notice when you're sitting at the dinner table smelling like perfumed flowers instead of engine oil."  
  
"Difference is I'm not the one who buys it."  
  
"No. You buy... glazed sweet rolls?" Clint raised an eyebrow at the remnants of Evelyn's treat and soggy wrapping paper in one hand with the notebook in the other, Wandas' own food held tightly in the young witch's grasp.  
  
The mechanic nodded. "They're really good. Wanna try?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Buy one, then." Evelyn smiled sweetly.  
  
Clint's smiling expression fell flat before he glanced towards Wanda, nodding his head in Evie's direction and rolling his eyes dramatically.  
  
Maximoff smiled gently at the tutting affectionate gesture and watched as Clint did in fact buy one for himself, then a couple more that were properly wrapped up to take back to the farmhouse with them.  
  
  
Later that night with Lucky curled up by the coffee table, Wanda in the armchair and Clint and Evelyn curled up on the sofa, they were all sat around the TV watching a movie randomly selected. It was a quiet, settled calm in the room as the clock neared late evening, Evie scrolling through her phone having lost interest in the cheesy flick a little while ago when the text alert went off in her hands, causing her to read and then squint at the screen.  
  
"Everything alright?" Clint glanced over from being casually reclined against the opposite sofa arm.  
  
"It's Stark. Dr Cho's thankfully been discharged from the hospital with an all-clear. And Tony is finally moving the Cradle down to storage out of the Tower lab. He wants any notes I have on it but I don't have any because they're back in Cho's lab. As are my bracer blueprints," Evelyn narrated as she typed back her response.  
  
A pause, and then the text alert noise. Evelyn read the screen then threw her head back with a long, exasperated groan.  
  
"What?"  
  
"He wants me to type them up for the Stark Lab files but I can't be botheeeered," Evelyn whined aloud to the innocent ceiling.  
  
"Tell him to fuck off, then," Barton said simply, "or just leave it till later. He can't be that desperate, and you're owed a vacation."  
  
"Yeah, I'll do it later. Good job Cho is better, though. She looked pretty bad after Ultron shot her. I almost feel thankful he only strangled me," she mumbled the last part to herself.  
  
"You managed to create an artificial intelligence thing that turned into a psycho killer bot with daddy issues ready to destroy the world just because it thought we weren't worth it. They don't have feelings or deserve your thankfulness," Clint said with just a hint of bitterness as he recalled the sight of her bruises that had now faded.  
  
"What about Vision?"  
  
"Vision's just plain weird. I don't understand that thing." Clint shook his head, attention quickly returning to the TV, letting the conversation trail off there.  
  
There was a short little pause around the living room before Wanda shifted, biting her lip and pulling the holopad from being tucked between her side and the chair arm into her lap, opening the email function and typing out a message. As she typed, a small smile curved at the corner of her mouth, drawing Evelyn's attention. From the angle, the mechanic couldn't see what she was typing in the message, but the address bar was close enough she could make it out just before Wanda noticed her and tilted the screen away so she couldn't read it anymore.  
  
The message had been addressed to Vision.  
  
Huh.


	23. Apple

The Monday following, the house had special visitors. Natasha made a surprise housecall and had also arrived with a guest in tow. Thomas Denver. Evie had been very happy to see him, Clint mildly glad, Wanda slightly confused until she was introduced, and Lucky was practically ecstatic at this new friend who kept cooing and giving him head pets as they settled in the kitchen together with hot drinks.  
  
It was about an hour after their arrival when things fell into place. Evie and Thomas had been chatting in detail over the events of Ultron with Wanda's occasional opinions as Nat and Clint caught up on all the underworld secrets Natasha had gathered in the space of a month, and apparently, there were a lot. But after the hour of shared coffees and hot chocolates, at which time Wanda had disappeared off into the garden with Lucky hot on her heels and contentedly chewing a slobbery tennis ball, Clint decided enough was enough of the pretence.  
  
"Alright, but what are you really here for, Widow?" Clint hadn't missed the underlying tone Natasha had held throughout the polite small talk. He knew this agent, he knew how she talked and how she thought, and he knew when she was leading up to something.  
  
Natasha's light expression dropped to a much more serious one, and she set down her mug on the kitchen island, taking a second to formulate her response, and then it was a sharp admittance on her tongue. "We're going after the Red Room."  
  
The room fell into a heavy silence. It was like someone had come in and shot Lucky right in front of them, or something equally devastating, and everyone just stood quietly afraid to break the silence like something real would shatter.  
  
"Natasha..." Clint was the first to speak, setting down his mug on the counter.  
  
"Probably a bad time to ask this question but, uh... what's the Red Room?" Evie asked, holding up a finger and glancing between the three fellow agents in confusion.  
  
Eyes flicked between each other before landing on Natasha, who took another beat to reply. "The Red Room was- _is _an espionage training facility. For decades the Red Room had been a Cold War program to train the deadliest female spies in the world, the Black Widows. They recruited 28 little orphan girls to make them undetectable deep-cover agents to infiltrate China and the West. The girls chosen were put through strenuous daily training, including hand to hand combat training, acrobatics, weapons training, and tactical skills and occasionally two girls are chosen to violently spar against each other; weakness is not tolerated and the loser is killed by their opponent. The core methodology focussed on brainwashing and imprinting people with almost completely fabricated memories." Natasha explained in a dead tone, not looking at anyone. "They... they raised me." She glanced at Evie in her peripherals before back at nothing. "We tracked down the old teachers and masters. Denver and Denver's team is accompanying me in their assassination."  
  
Evie barely hesitated. "Can I go?"  
  
"Absolutely not." Natasha and Clint both refused.  
  
"Why does Thomas get to go and I don't? In fact, why isn't everybody going if it's that important?" She gestured in Thomas's direction sitting at the table.  
  
"Because my team has been training under Miss Romanoff for two years now," he replied matter-of-factly.  
  
Her eyes bulged. "What? Since when? Why didn't you ever say so?" Evie glared at him accusingly.  
  
"I was under orders," he answered like a loyal soldier, face impassive to her betrayed stare.  
  
"Do you want me to go with you?" Clint asked Nat carefully, nursing his cup of coffee between two hands.  
  
"No, I need you to stay here and hold down the fort. Look after everybody and make sure no one goes wandering off into more trouble than they can handle," Natasha said, shaking her head.  
  
"But that's... Nat, we want to help. Come on, you're family, and no one gets away with hurting family." Anyone who wasn't smart would say Evie started to pout, and those people got their car engines busted.  
  
"Don't worry about it," Natasha said softly, but Evie was still not looking happy about any of this. Natasha walked closer and lowered her volume. "This is a personal mission. One I need to handle without you or Clint. I know you understand what that's like." The redhead spoke in that tone that always melted Evie's frustration and anger, and if she hadn't just melted her anger she would say she hated Nat for it.  
  
Evelyn's eyes flicked between Clint and Thomas before landing back on Nat with a long-suffering sigh, well aware she had no power to convince the agent no matter her own feelings on the subject. "Alright. But if you get into trouble, we're all coming running and knocking down doors ready to kick ass, yeah?"  
  
"She's not on her own. She's taking me and my team, remember?" Thomas butted in from the side.  
  
Evie glanced over her shoulder at him for a long silent beat before back to Nat. "As I said, we'll come running."  
  
"Oy."  
  
"Oy, what? Fuckin' come at me, Tank Engine."  
  
  
A while later the group dispersed, Evie heading outside with Nat and Thomas talking about one thing or another and catching up on recent events while leaving Clint to tidy up elsewhere and Wanda walking back into the kitchen with Lucky padding in behind. Her hands fidgeted as she looked around the room, feeling the magic flood through her hands but not leave.  
  
She hadn't used her powers since the battle, it hadn't felt right to. There'd been no need and... she felt like something was blocking her but she couldn't quite put her finger on what. But she could do the simple things still, right? Wanda lifted her hand -when had she started shaking?- and attempted to bring an apple out of the fruit bowl and over to her hand.  
  
It exploded and dropped to the ground in chunky pieces.  
  
She cursed inwardly at herself before there was a tail beating at her legs as Lucky swooped in and started licking the pieces off of the floor like a dog who hadn't been fed in days.  
  
"Lucky, you're on a diet. You shouldn't be snacking between meals," Clint's voice made her spin quickly to him where he was looking down at the dog and tutting like a mother catching her child sneaking treats before dinner. Then he looked at Wanda and smiled, and she relaxed as she thought she hadn't been caught.  
  
"Actually, I should probably grab the core before he manages- hey, Lucky. Luck, no. You'll choke on that bit. Lucky. Lucky, hey! Give me that." Clint tussled with the canine for a few moments before managing to swipe the apple core up before the dog could choke on it, standing straight and looking at Wanda, exasperatedly. "Some days he just doesn't wanna listen to me." Clint threw the core into the nearby bin and brushed his hands off on his jeans, hearing Lucky's claws tap against the floor as he discovered he was getting no more food and lost interest in the kitchen altogether. "But I get the feeling something's bugging you. I know you wouldn't just drop an apple to Lucky without asking first," he said, all-too-knowingly.  
  
Wanda fidgeted with her hands and the sleeves of her cardigan. "I was trying to..." Her finger sparked with red magic before calming again. "I haven't quite got the hang of this yet," she finished shyly.  
  
"It'll take time. Levitating an apple is different than crushing a robot. It's all about context." Clint said, guiding her over to the table, taking a seat at the head of the table and having her seat adjacent to him.  
  
"I can hold up a house of cards," she said, spying the deck left out on the table from her and Evie's last adventure with it, now becoming a regular hobby to see how big Evie could build on her own before it came toppling down. The current record had them at three storeys.  
  
"That's good practice." Clint nodded, then reached over and grabbed the pack, putting it in front of Wanda. "Do it now?"  
  
Wanda shuffled the cards out of the plastic holder and picked out a few, lifting her hands and trying to focus her shaking fingers. The cards wobbled as they lifted into the air, uncertain as she, as they moved into position but failed to stay still enough to even form the proper shape of the house. Eventually, they dropped back on the table, scattering carelessly now they weren't held together by her magic. "I can't," she admitted.  
  
"You're overthinking it. I promise that's all it is." Clint said, collecting the scattered cards in his hands. "It's like when I was teaching Evie how to use a bow. Practice and focus. No second-guessing."  
  
"I need to control it."  
  
Clint looked at her and sighed gently. "You aren't trying to control it, you're trying to force it. And you can't force something like that. Control is about direction and influence but you're trying too hard to do something you don't understand how to do yet."  
  
Wanda furrowed her brow. "Yet?"  
  
The archer slid the cards back into the pack and placed the pack on the other side of the table. "You'll learn. Learning control is like learning how to master a new skill. Just like when using a weapon, the weapon is a solid thing, an idea really, but it's you that has the control. You guide it, but you don't force it to do something it wasn't meant to do." He spoke like he would when guiding a training session, his "teacher voice" as Evelyn had dubbed it. Well, now was the time to be a teacher. Drawing upon his own experiences with concentration he learned when he was younger, he steeled himself and nodded.  
  
"Now, I'm not an expert so maybe I don't know what the hell I'm talking about, but this is the way I would approach it. Close your eyes," he instructed, much to Wanda's confusion. "Yeah. Close 'em. I promise nothing is gonna get you while I'm here, okay? You're safe." the archer promised confidently, and a few moments later, Wanda was closing her eyes but instantly tensing.  
  
He'd had a few conversations with Thor, unable to deny the curiosity that came from his abilities and powers as a God. Thor had explained he could feel the energy simmering beneath his skin all the time, never truly disappearing in any way and never leaving him, even when he was thoroughly exhausted from a fight or training. He decided to apply the same methodology to Wanda, or at least a similar one since Wanda wasn't exactly a god.  
  
He waited until she had relaxed a little before starting to talk again. "Right. Now, feel the magic in your body. It doesn't just disappear when you're not using it, right?" he asked, watching her shake her head slowly as her eyes scrunched up in concentration. "How does it feel?"  
  
"Like its humming. Constantly," she said, sounding hazy.  
  
"Right. Focus on that and hold out your hands on the table." He leaned over to the kitchen island, plucking an apple out of the bowl and settling it gently in her cupped open hands. "Now, feel the magic flow out of you, your hands specifically, like a stream. You're not blocking it, you're not trying to force it to be something it's not. You're keeping a focus on your hands and are just letting it out, slowly and gently. You're the guide, so guide it." He remembered his own experiences, and then tried to remember how Thor described releasing his power via the hammer, Mjolnir, and how it felt to channel his energy into the object, but it's not like Wanda had a magic wand or something.  
  
The image of Wanda with a magic wand was a cute one but he shook it off once he saw the red glowing light flowing out of her hands and slowly lifting the apple up into the air, hovering maybe half a metre from her palms.  
  
"All okay?" he asked once the apple stopped ascending.  
  
"Yes," Wanda said, and a relaxed smile started to form on her lips, eyes still closed.  
  
"Right, so, keep doing that. But now open your eyes," he instructed, and she did, looking at her empty hands confused as if she hadn't noticed the weight of the apple lift off her, and then glancing up to the apple hovering a few inches from her face, supported by her own stream of magic.  
  
Wanda let out a breathy laugh, nearly in disbelief.   
  
"See? Perfectly fine." Clint said with a smile.  
  
Wanda smiled, and then her magic cut off, the apple falling into her hands where she easily caught it.  
  
"Nice catch." Clint smiled, and Wanda smiled back.   
  
He took the apple out of her hand, breaking it in half with his hands and offering her one section which she took with a polite nod. "It will take time to gain full control over your abilities but with practice, it can be done. Wanda, look at me."  
  
She looked up from her side of the apple.  
  
"You can do it. I know you can." He reached across the table and placed a hand on her wrist, squeezing in a way he hoped was reassuring. He watched her take a long breath in and then let it out before nodding, but he knew he had to be encouraging while she was still listening. "Join me and Evie in the practice room from time to time, experiment. I could even take you to reinforced buildings if you were afraid of accidentally knocking the house down somehow. You don't have to be afraid of what you can do when you're not out in the field."  
  
Wanda's eyes glanced down to her half of the apple, turning it over between her fingers before lifting it just a little out of her palm with one hand and her magic, letting the slice rotate in the air. "How did you know that would work?" she asked.  
  
"When I was younger, I spent time in the circus as an act. Archery was my thing. And I used to be- well, I still am, a bit of a perfectionist, but I would obsess over it and get frustrated on days where my focus was overly focused. I had to learn how to clear my mind and relax, to trust myself and the bow. Or sometimes the sword, I did a bit of both. Then moving into SHIELD the same with weapons and missions," Clint explained with a small shrug.  
  
"So that's why you know how to use a sword," Evelyn's voice floated in from the doorway, and both Clint and Wanda turned to see her leaning on the doorframe with Lucky sitting happily at her side.  
  
"I said I'd tell you eventually," Clint responded.  
  
She raised an eyebrow as a smile started twitching at her mouth and a giggle started to form. "The circus?"  
  
"I'll tell you more later. Just not right now," Clint told her, looking away, which killed any humour she saw in the idea and she agreed that was fair.  
  
"Nat and Thomas left," she told them.  
  
Clint sucked in a breath and nodded, standing up from the table with a new smile on his face. "Right. Who's hungry?"  
  
Lucky barked happily.


	24. Life goes on

"Remind me when I turned into the personal 3am hot chocolate fetcher for you, Evie."  
  
Evie flexed her fingers as they started to tense up from strain. "When you decided to ask me for all the notes on the Cradle which I told you were in Cho's lab and then you told me they all got destroyed in Ultron's hissy fit," the young mechanic answered, returning to the lab keyboard, squinting at the holoscreen in front of her and watching the words appear. "So, as a friendly gesture, I thought I would come in and type them up personally since you wouldn't stop bugging me about it. That is why you're getting me hot chocolate at three in the morning."  
  
Tony set the cup down beside her on the desk before perching on the end of it, hands in his lap. "Yeah, that was like three years ago, why come in now? You getting cabin fever?" His smirk and tone weren't unfounded. Turning up at the Tower unexpectedly late into the evening with a smothered look of exhaustion in her features reminded him of his days dealing with the press for hours, the veil of pretend falling thin.  
  
Her fingers hovered above the keyboard as she took a sip of the hot chocolate. An expensive brand because Stark could afford nothing less, stupid billionaire guy. She sighed and held the mug between two hands. "I'm stressed the hell out. Nat's gone on her special job with Thomas and his friends who haven't responded to my texts, Clint has a new mission assigned to him from someone he won't tell me about to do who knows what and is barely in the house or otherwise buried in paperwork, Wanda is talking more and more with Vision which is a good thing because yay social interaction outside the farm but I'm kinda left alone with the dog most of the time and I just..." Evelyn dropped the mug and carded her fingers through her hair, head bent forward and eyes closed tight. She took in a breath and moved her hands around to rest on her cheeks and glance up at Tony. "I just needed a break. I need something to focus on other than my nightmares. I need _something _to do. Just _something_."  
  
Her fingers curled around thin air, grasping at an idea that wasn't there. She didn't know what she was grasping for but all she knew was she needed it and she didn't have it.  
  
"Have you told Barton?" Tony asked.  
  
"I just told you he's barely in the house anymore and I don't wanna burden Wanda when she has her own trauma to deal with. It'll pass, they always do. Missions that go wrong are part of the job description and coming down from them takes time. But by fuck does it suck in the meantime."  
  
Tony watched the little -or not so little anymore- mechanic have her short meltdown, head dropping to the desk with a heavy thunk and groaning into the surface. Tony would've complained that they'd only just been cleaned but considering it was three in the morning and she was providing a service with the notes on the Cradle that would take him and Dr Cho weeks to replicate on their own, he let it go.  
  
Instead, while Evie was mumbling something about dead eyes and dreams, he reached into his blazer pocket retrieving a white envelope and tapped her on the arm with it. When she peeked up at him, he spoke. "This is your last letter from your internship. Course finished," he told her, wiggling the paper and encouraging her to take it in hopes of distracting her from a full breakdown. They'd just mopped the floors.   
  
Evie took the envelope and sat up, pushing away her other thoughts and opened it, reading the letter with quiet mumbles before pausing roughly halfway down the page. "Graduation with "honours"?" She raised an eyebrow at the choice of phrasing, not so much the achievement itself.  
  
Tony ran his tongue along the inside of his cheek, biting it and glancing away. "You're one of the best students I've ever had, I gotta admit it."  
  
Evie snorted. "Wow, Tony Stark is complimenting me? And here I thought Ultron was the sign of the end of the world." She smiled cheekily.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, whatever Mouse." He rolled his eyes dismissively and tapped the paper. "Anyway, there's an opening in the tech department at STARK Ind if you want it. Details are all at the bottom of the letter. Take the time to think about it if you feel like a change of pace might do you good or if you just wanna have a couple of your own employees to boss around for a while. I know I have those days. Offer's open till... the end of the world, I guess."  
  
"Don't tempt fate, Stark."  
  
"I don't believe in fate."  
  
"No shit."  
  
  
The hyperactive twelve-year-old was a blur rushing past Evie with her action figures clutched tightly in her hands, making various sound effects of explosions and gunfire as she ran and played in front of the TV Evie was trying to watch.  
  
"And then Iron Man swoops down like _whoosh _and starts firing lasers at all the robots." Macy started firing her Iron Man doll at imaginary enemies as Evelyn sat on the sofa watching her and the TV, finally having gotten around to that babysitting gig she'd had to cancel because of that mild kidnapping thing a while ago.  
  
With Clint hardly ever in the house during the day and Wanda not interested in solving the puzzles they'd already finished a few times before or wanting to play around with the playing cards, she had to find something else to do. She just didn't feel comfortable on her own anymore, and her natural reaction kept kicking in to tell her to avoid being without someone else in the room at any time. It was a feeling that slipped into her gut one morning -which morning was lost to her memory- and hadn't shaken off, so instead of moping, she went out to try and find something else for herself. And it had to be without going moaning to Stark again who had helpfully tattled on her to Barton about her complaints who had tried reassuring her he and Nat would be done with the distance and secretive missions soon and they could all go on an outing together somewhere. She didn't believe him. She didn't tell him that, though.  
  
Macy had loved the story of the battle with Ultron, even with most of the more sinister and personal issues censored out, and enjoyed reenacting the scenes as Evelyn narrated her account of the whole thing in comparison to the news stories that had covered the ordeal.  
  
"Repulsors, Macy. Its concentrated energy beams." Evie corrected gently, watching the child fall to her knees and make more shooting noises at the cream carpet, Iron Man flying in one hand and Captain America making jumps that were impossible even for a supersoldier in the other.  
  
"Same difference." Macy blew a raspberry at her babysitter and returned to her little daydream fantasy battle.  
  
Evie would have probably argued further if she wasn't interrupted by the distant _"I'm home!" _from the doorway as the alpha male returned to the home.  
  
Macy was instantly on her feet and gesturing to Evie with Cap, jumping up and down as she watched her father walk in with a heavy grocery bag under one hand and keys in the other. "Daaaaad, tell Evie she's being nit-picky," the little child complained with a whine.  
  
"_Or _you can tell Macy that repulsors are not the same thing as lasers," Evie argued back, looking at Darren as if to say _"you see what I'm dealing with here?" _which to the father of the child was kind of a pointless gesture.  
  
Darren pulled out a pair of thin boxes from the grocery bag. "I bought pizza," he said, ending the argument almost immediately as Macy's brain was overtaken by the thought of pepperoni.  
  
Evie checked the time on her phone before standing up and nearly tripping over a strewn Hulk figure with a missing arm by her feet. "I should get going anyway. Hate to worry the mother hawk... if he's even at home," she mumbled the last part to herself.  
  
"Say thank you to Evelyn for looking after you, Macy," Darren called to the twelve-year-old looking hungrily at the pizzas being slid into the oven.  
  
She jumped down from the grocery bag and tackled Evie in a hug without taking her to the ground like she used to. "Thank you, Evelyn."  
  
Ah. Hearing her full name pronounced correctly. Something Macy had not been able to do a few years before, and it made Evie feel a small flutter of pride in her chest every time she heard it now.  
  
The mechanic hugged her back, putting her phone away and heading for the door. "Right, I'll see you both later." She waved over her shoulder.  
  
Darren snapped his fingers as he remembered something. "Oh, before you go..."  
  
Evie turned around in time to see Mr Martinez searching beside the kitchen bin for a busted cardboard box and something thrown haphazardly inside it. Paper and bubble wrap were poking out of the sides as he brought it over. "I didn't know whether you would be bothered with this but our old Roomba broke the other day and I wondered if you might get some use out of it? Otherwise, I'm just going to be throwing it out." He shrugged, holding the box out in offering as he showed a light blue cleaning robot inside still looking in good condition for how old it was.  
  
"You looked at a broken Roomba and instantly thought "Hey, there's something Evie would like to have"? You just know me so well, Darren." Evie chuckled softly.  
  
"Alright, I'll scrap it then." Darren turned away with the box and opportunity for fun.  
  
"Ay, ay, ay, I didn't say that." Evie reached around and took it from him, arms dipping as she realised it was heavier than she'd been expecting but recovered quickly. She meant to do that. Looking at the robot inside with scrutinising eyes, she mused, "I'm sure I can try and fix it somehow, or turn it into a cyborg. Hopefully one not bent on world domination this time."  
  
  
Clint didn't say much about it when she dumped it on the kitchen table along with her mechanic tools because her room was already flush with her random projects, only asking a simple "what's that?" while attempting to see through the mess of paper and bubble wrap covering the table surface.  
  
"New project," she'd answered shortly, already distracted with a screwdriver and the battery panel.  
  
  
_**Vrooooooo- crash!**_  
  
Evie and Wanda winced together as the Roomba hit the living room wall at full speed and left a stubborn mark on the duck-egg paint less than a few hours later.   
  
"Okay. That is fast." Evie acknowledged her tinkering may have gone a bit far as the Roomba backed up and shot itself into the wall, creating another loud bang that had Lucky rushing down from lounging at the top of the stairs to see what the fuss was about.   
  
"And violent," she added, chewing her lip. "Did I accidentally give it the brain of a teenager?" She and the witch watched as the robot that had started continually banging its "head" into the wall over and over before finally deciding that wasn't working and to go in another direction.  
  
Lucky observed the robot curiously as it moved across the floors, padding after it and sniffing around the little thing as he tried to figure out whether or not if it was a new toy to play with.  
  
"You should name him," Clint said, leaning on the doorframe connecting the living room and kitchen as he observed the scene.  
  
"Did you just assume the Roomba's gender?" Evie raised an eyebrow, a smile forming on her lips.  
  
"It looks like a "he". Name him." The archer shrugged and returned to his paperwork at the table, disappearing just as suddenly as he'd appeared like he had been doing for the past couple of weeks.  
  
Wanda had moved back onto the sofa to avoid being a victim of the hoovers' apparent sentient lifestyle, her holopad in her lap and writing out another message to Vision and losing all interest in Evie's little project.  
  
Evelyn took in a deep breath through her nose and let it out, listening to the sound of Lucky starting to bite at the Roomba and bark when it fought back by chasing the whimpering canine around the living room. When the Roomba bumped into her foot she finally looked down, the robot nuzzling at her ankle as it tried to work out whether or not she was a moveable object. Then she had a sudden spark of inspiration and smirked to herself, grabbing duct tape and a pen.  
  
Later that evening when Evie and Wanda were on the sofa binging TV shows, and Clint had finally had enough and flipped the whirring thing over to try and turn it off before it made permanent dents in the walls, he spotted the little strip of tape stuck to the underside and promptly burst into laughter as he saw the name "_PIETRO_" scrawled in black marker.


	25. Hill

It was about a week later, June 29th to be exact, when Evelyn finally snapped.  
  
It had been building since escaping Ultron and she hadn’t even noticed. Well, she had noticed, she could feel each little thing getting to her more and more but she just brushed them aside or busied herself with her projects, refusing to acknowledge them. Because, if she acknowledged them, she’d have to deal with the memories and the pain and just no, she wasn’t doing that, so she ignored it all.  
  
Healthy, she knew. But she’d lost the will to care by then.  
  
It was a Friday evening when she’d gotten that itch in her spine to train. So, dropping the new modification designs she was making for her suit and weapons, she grabbed a towel and changed into more appropriate clothing for a training session, heading into the barn and setting up.  
  
Clint had been home barely at all this week but he was mum about why. He promised he’d be home for dinner on Friday so they could all eat together properly again, something that had been becoming rarer and rarer as the weeks passed, but he’d promised this time. So he would. Or at least that’s what Evelyn kept telling herself because thinking he might do differently was too much of an irritance to handle when working on a complex project like her suit.  
  
Honestly, she knew very little about textile design she’d been in frequent contact with Tony all week but even he seemed to be busy almost 24/7, frustratingly enough.  
  
And Wanda had not bothered to come and say hey like usual over the passing days, absorbed in her messages to Vision or wandering off into the garden alone. Evie was growing increasingly concerned but Wanda always assured her she was fine whenever asked so there wasn’t much Evie could do without being annoying to the younger female.  
  
So, gym it was before she started punching walls.  
  
After a few sets of weight training and usual gymnastics as per her normal solo routines, her phone buzzed on the haybale pile behind her. Wiping the sweat with a towel and unlocking her screen Evie read the message.  
  
**Old Man>** _Not going to make it back tonight. Paperwork piling up. There’s leftover pasta in the fridge you can heat up for you and Wanda. Will be back tomorrow morning.  
  
_She put her phone down. _  
  
_And that’s when she snapped.  
  
She felt an irritation return to her she hadn’t felt in years. She really wanted to punch something, and that something was not going to be a punchbag. It needed to be something breakable, but also something she could fix after she broke it.  
  
  
And that’s how Wanda found her later, hearing loud shouting on her stroll in the garden and running into the garage expecting a dozen or so enemies attacking the house only to find the mechanic casually screaming abuse at and beating up a broken radiator with a pipe.  
  
”Evelyn, what are you doing?” Wanda lowered her hands, her magic fading back into her body rather than at the ready when she’d stormed in on the defence.  
  
Evie stopped hitting the radiator and stood up, blowing hair out of her face and panting to get her breath back. “Blowing off steam,” she answered, gripping the pipe tightly in both hands. “Heh, get it? Steam? Cause its a radiator?” She nodded towards the radiator with a weak smile in an attempt to get Wanda to magically forget about walking in on her high-school-remnant rage. When she saw that it was not going to work at all, her smile faltered and she tossed the pipe back where she found it strewn in the corner from her last trip in here. “Doesn’t matter.”  
  
”What’s wrong?” Wanda asked warily.  
  
”Nothing.”  
  
”Evie,” Wanda said gently and Evelyn looked away, unable to meet her eye. “What’s wrong?” she asked again.  
  
It took a long while for Evelyn to respond. ”Clint’s not coming home tonight. Again.” she said.  
  
Wanda felt a little disappointed at the news but could tell there was more to it. Evelyn wasn’t so dramatic as to beat up a radiator every time Clint didn’t return home. There’d be no heaters in the house left if she did.  
  
The bitter laugh caught her attention again. “You know, I’d be fine if everyone just told me things and stopped with all the fucking secrets.” She turned to face Wanda. “Oh, but he’ll tell me soon. When’s “soon”? In an hour, a day, a _year_? He’s never here and when he is he’s doing paperwork and can’t be disturbed and you’re wandering or texting Vision and no one else is available to talk and I’m alone. Again.” She turned away again, a hand coming up to wipe at her eyes with the back of her wrist, but Wanda couldn’t see her face past the hair shielding it.  
  
She took a small step closer. ”Evie?”  
  
”Don’t…” Evie lifted her head back up, sighing as her shoulders slumped. “Don’t bother with me. I’m just being selfish.” Her tone was tired, exhausted, and now that Wanda could see, she noticed just how fried her friend looked with the adrenaline now having left her expression.  
  
”How are you being selfish?” Wanda was definitely confused.  
  
”I understand the work Clint and Nat and Thomas and everyone else does is always going to be shrouded in secrets. We’re on a team of superheroes and spies, I’d be surprised if any of us told the whole truth to each other all the time. Wanting him to be here and to tell me these things is me being selfish because I know he isn’t allowed to but I can’t get my brain to remember that and to stop wondering. I don’t even know why I’m so worried. I’ve been less worried over actual missions where he could die, before. But I just… I hate it.”  
  
She grumbled, leaning up against the tractor and folding her arms with a headshake. “I can’t stop thinking about it. I need him here, I need to know he’s okay. I need…” Her fingers curled around thin air. She didn't know what for but she knew was she needed and she didn't have it.  
  
”Closure,” Wanda suggested.  
  
”Kind of?” Evie said helplessly and dropped her hands. “Clint keeps leaving the house but he can’t tell me why, Natasha is off with Thomas in some long-forgotten country and neither are answering my texts. And I’m lying in bed almost every night now awake until I’m too exhausted not to sleep because the nightmares are getting worse. They’re getting worse and worse and I can’t stop them and I don’t want anyone to get hurt. And I know I’m probably just freaking out over nothing. And I’m just…” She stopped and took a deep breath in, running her hands over her face and carding through her hair. She looked at Wanda. “I’m so tired, Wanda. I’m so tired all the time. I can’t sleep without seeing his face, his dead eyes. All of them, all dead in a pile that I can’t see the top of.”  
  
The mechanic turned around and slumped, face against the tractor and bracketed by her arms. “I don’t know what to do,” she mumbled, defeated, into the chipping paint, the rest of the garage laying silent.  
  
Wanda considered the mechanic. Many of the things she said sounded similar to how Wanda had been feeling when they first arrived here, feeling alone and helpless even though she was apparently surrounded by people that cared. And when she’d revealed that to Evelyn, Evelyn had helped remind her that there was always someone to talk to and she didn’t have to suffer alone. And now Wanda would do the same for her.  
  
The witch took careful steps towards the hunched over mechanic, gently reaching out a hand, the first time Wanda had reached forward first rather than Evie, and gently clasped a hand on her shoulder, giving it a single squeeze.  
  
Evie turned her head to look at Wanda through her curtain of hair, but she didn’t refuse the contact.  
  
Wanda smiled. ”Let’s take a walk.”  
  
  
Managing to shuffle Evie out of the garage, the two of them strolled through the garden, Lucky bouncing up to them and barking happily when he was petted and a rubber bone was thrown by Wanda using her power. The two moved into the secluded part of the garden and sat on the couch by the pond, Lucky lying lazily at their feet chewing his rubber bone.  
  
It took a few minutes but Evie eventually started talking again. ”So quiet. I’ve fallen asleep on this bench more times than I can count and I’ve woken up with Mother Hawk standing over me lecturing me on getting a chill more times than I care to admit.”  
  
Wanda giggled a little, relaxing into the bench. ”What were your favourite things to do here with Clint?”  
  
Evie sucked in a breath, looking up with a look of half-pride half-regret. ”Either something very quiet or something very loud. Zero in-between.”  
  
”Really?” Wanda asked like she _didn’t _find that hard to believe.  
  
”Yeah, it was constantly a toss-up between either finishing my SHIELD homework and mechanical projects with his assistance or karaoke in the living room together and test-driving new ideas on my motorcycle.”  
  
”Motorcycle?” Wanda asked. She hadn’t seen a motorcycle here or couldn’t picture Evie riding one, although now she thought about it, perhaps it wasn’t too far fetched an idea.  
  
”Yeah, its in the garage. It’s a Harley Davidson like my grandfather used to own. Have you ever been on one?” Evie asked, and at Wanda’s headshake, a smirk slowly began to grow on her lips as an idea formed. “Do you want to?” She asked, raising a mischievous eyebrow.  
  
Wanda glanced at her, brow naturally drawn in suspicion.  
  
  
Less than five minutes later, the two girls were holding on tight as the wind whipped around them, the air practically electric as Evie drove down the hidden roads through the hills. The streets she navigated weren’t wide enough for cars and trucks but for two girls on a Harley? Perfect fit.  
  
Evie had leant Wanda Clint’s helmet which led into a small giggle fit when Wanda realised there were little pink glittery arrows surrounded by red hearts all over it. Evie’s was plain regardless of how many times Clint had begged her to let him design it himself which, because she was not stupid, she politely declined.  
  
Now, speeding down the streets towards the particular spot Evie had in mind for them to stand (a small recluse she found when blowing off steam previously) Wanda sat on the back of the motorcycle with her arms tightly gripping around Evie’s waist though Evie had had to shout to Wanda she couldn’t breathe at one point, forcing her to begrudgingly loosen up. But after a few minutes, Wanda had loosened up for real and just let herself enjoy the moment, spying the sheep and cows in the fields they passed along with fields covered in flowers so densely in purples and yellows you could barely tell the underneath was dirt.  
  
Eventually, Evie pulled up at the top of a hill, kicking the stand down and killing the engine. She led Wanda off the bike and to some rough stone steps that were rough but steady, taking her hand and guiding her up them towards their destination.  
  
”Are you sure we’re allowed up here?” Wanda asked, no longer having to shout through her helmet to be heard now it was in the opposite hand.  
  
”Oh yeah, definitely. No one ever comes up here because when it gets windy you can’t hear a thing. It’s like you’re skydiving. Come on.” Evie smiled and led her further up until their feet touched grass of the secluded stretch of hilltop, letting Wanda’s hand go and gesturing to the wide expanding landscape before them. ”See? Told you. You can see the whole town from up here.”  
  
It was true. They were standing on the highest point of the hills that Ashforn had, the height giving them a fantastic view of the valley just below. And the best thing was hardly anybody was aware of its existence.  
  
”This is amazing.” Wanda was so taken by the sight she nearly slipped off the edge of the hill to go tumbling all the way back to Clint’s farm. The land they stood on was a finite area but big enough for a couple of people to lie lazily under the large cherry blossom tree sitting behind them in bloom. “Vis would like this,” she said to herself, head tilting as she took in the view like a breath of fresh air.  
  
”Vis?” Evie raised an eyebrow, starting to smirk. “Ooh, look at you, a nickname and everything. Someone’s got a crush.” she teased and Wanda looked away.  
  
”I don’t have a crush,” she insisted. “I just find him fascinating.”  
  
”Crushing harder than a schoolgirl, definitely. Diagnosed and filed.”  
  
”Evie…”  
  
Evelyn held up her hands in surrender before making a zipping gesture across her lips. ”I won’t breathe a word,” she promised.  
  
The two returned to watching the view, sitting at the edge of the hill, comfortably.  
  
”We could have a picnic up here,” Wanda said after a few minutes.  
  
”Better not be a windy day or everything will go flying down the hill and greet us when we get back to Clint’s.” Evie knew from experience. She still never managed to find that basketball again and completely denied it ever existing when Clint asked about it a few days later.  
  
”We used to have picnics sometimes in the summer. There was this big open field next to where we used to live. Pietro and I would run around and playfight and get muddy before being told off by our parents for ruining the outfits they just cleaned.”  
  
”Oh, I know that feeling well.” Evie chuckled.  
  
Wanda smiled, leaning back on her hands and crossing one outstretched leg over the other. ”Then we’d sit for sandwiches and ginger beer before running off again into the fields to play tag. Sometimes other families would come and sit outside with us and the children would play games together with P and I.”  
  
She grew quiet after that, choosing to look forward rather than at the mechanic beside her.  
  
Evie chewed her lip. ”I’ve never had ginger beer,” she admitted.  
  
”Never?” Wanda sounded scandalised.  
  
”We’ll have to get a bottle for the picnic.” She nodded and felt a little happy when she saw Wanda’s smile grow at the mention of the picnic. She hummed and continued, “I don’t have a big alcohol palette, either. Ever had prosecco?”  
  
Wanda paused as she thought but ended up shaking her head. ”No, I don’t think so.”  
  
”There’s a bottle under the sink Clint tried to hide behind the dog food. We should crack it open. I think I have half a bottle of whiskey left upstairs, too.”  
  
”Are you trying to get me drunk, Evelyn?” Wanda raised an eyebrow, chuckling.  
  
Evie giggled guiltily. ”Nooooo. I definitely don’t want to see a pretty Sokovian woman drunk off her ass at the dinner table. Definitely not.”  
  
”Remember that Sokovia is beside Russia. I can hold my liquor.”  
  
”Oh really?” Evie smirked. “Well, I’m going to accept that as a challenge.”  
  
”I hope so.”  
  
Evie giggled again and sighed, looking out into the stretched landscape with a happy grin. ”Clint is going to be very surprised when he eventually does get home.”  
  
”I would like to see him drunk,” Wanda said.  
  
”Oh, don’t. Last time it took him an hour to stop crying.”  
  
”Why?”  
  
“Because he saw a cooked chicken he’d made earlier that day and kept screaming “you killed my child!” while sobbing into Lucky’s fur.”


	26. Crutch

**Two days later - 1st July**  
Wanda and Evie had been sat in the garden, Wanda’s head on Evie’s lap while using her holopad and Evelyn skimming through her crosswords when Clint located them. No less than five minutes later, the trio had hopped in Clint’s car and were driving towards an unknown location because Clint had said nothing else than “I’ll explain everything”.  
  
The drive was silent and the air was itchy, Clint in the driver’s seat sat as tense as his bowstring when pulled taut, ready to fire off at anything, so the drive stayed silent and remained silent, though Evie did reach back to the backseat and squeezed Wanda’s hand as a comforting gesture to soften the experience.  
  
It was only when they were five minutes away did Evelyn realise they were heading back for the Avengers Compound, and Clint still refused to talk as he parked in the space painted with the word “HAWKEYE” in bold letters which Evie assumed was definitely not the original design knowing Stark.  
  
The three stepped out of the car and that’s Clint finally spoke again. ”Before we go in there, I need you both to know I’m here for you, okay?” His eyes flicked between the two with a well-meaning look on his face.  
  
Wanda and Evie glanced at each other suspiciously but nodded along a second later.  
  
Clint guided them towards the front door. ”Alright. This way. We’re heading up to the penthouse,” he narrated as they exited the parking lot and into the building, keycards scanning and confirming their different ID images and clearance on a nearby security screen.  
  
The elevator ride up was short, thankfully, and Clint walked the girls through to the penthouse room where two guards with Stark logos stood watching and waiting. He stopped them just in front of the door.  
  
”I think Evelyn should go in first, then Wanda after,” he said, which only heightened the suspicion between the girls but Wanda agreed and stood to the side, letting Clint lead Evie up to the door. “Okay, this is going to be a bit of a shock, hell knows I was shocked when I saw, but just… try not to freak out, okay?”  
  
”Clint, you’re starting to scare me,” Evie said, chewing the inside of her lip.  
  
”Deep breaths,” he advised before opening the door and slipping inside with her, closing the door securely behind them. Evie noticed there were another two guards on this side, but they looked more familiar to a few of the guards she’d seen hanging around Stark Industries whenever she went in to train in her internship.  
  
Walking up to the sofas they’d last been on before the whole world-dominating robot stuff, Evie recognised the group sitting around talking quietly with each other.  
  
On one sofa was Tony Stark sitting back lazily with a drink and Steve Rogers next to him quietly observing, both out of costume and looking at the opposite sofa. On the second sofa sat Bruce Banner and a stranger with scraggly brunet and ashy hair.  
  
As the two approached, everyone rose off the sofas including the stranger who reached to the side and grabbed two crutches, standing up and turning around to face the incoming Avengers.  
  
Evie stopped dead in her tracks when her forest green eyes met with familiar electric blue ones she’d been dreaming about for the last few months.  
  
”…Pietro?” The name fell out of her mouth, unbidden.  
  
The not-dead man eased himself around the sofa and closer, his legs coming to a wobbling stop just two paces in front of her. Up close, she could see he looked so damn tired, his hair a mess like someone had tried combing it out and given up halfway through, his body language no matter how tall he tried standing stood out as drained and uneasy. He gave her a small smirk. ”Bet you didn’t see that coming,” he breathed casually like he was just greeting an old friend.  
  
This… this was not happening. She was still dreaming. She’d dozed off in the garden with Wanda or something and Lucky was about to jump up in their laps and cause a fuss as the devious little canine had a habit of doing.  
  
But even when she blinked and rubbed her eyes, the scene sitting in front of her was still there, those not-so-dead eyes were still staring back at her with a cheeky grin like she was the one who wasn’t supposed to be standing there, and the whole situation was continuing to confuse the fuck out of her.  
  
So, Evelyn did the one thing that always came most natural to her whenever a situation became too stressful and confusing and she saw no other outlet for her emotions as worthy.  
  
She hit something. And the something she hit this time was Pietro.  
  
_"Son of a bitch!" _  
  
It was hard to distinguish whether Evelyn was exclaiming because of Pietro being real and not just a hallucination or her now-throbbing hand that had the speedster stumbling back and off his crutches, falling on his ass with a thump.  
  
Clint had to hold out his bow to stop the guards at the doors from rushing to restrain Evelyn and to stop her from giving Pietro another concussion, instead returning to their jobs of keeping Wanda outside for the time being. The young witch was bound to have heard that and be wondering what the heck was going on in here.  
  
”You’re dead,” Evie said bluntly, shaking her hand out before turning to Clint. “He’s dead,” she said to him before looking at the rest of the team gathered either helping Pietro back up to his crutches or watching the mechanic ready to restrain her. “Am I dead? Did the world just randomly explode into flames or something?” Evie’s hand flew to her neck to check her pulse and not even as part of a sarcastic bit, she was legitimately concerned she’d died and gone somewhere upwards.  
  
Clint gently took her by the forearms. ”I think you need to step outside for a second.” He kept his tone calm since Evie was finding it impossible.  
  
”Dead eyes,” Evie mumbled, still staring at the Sokovian.  
  
”Let’s take a walk,” Clint said and guided her towards the door. Her head remained in the same direction the whole way before they managed to step outside.  
  
Wanda flicked her eyes between Clint and Evelyn, seeing Evie looking pale as a ghost and not much better in her expression. ”Evelyn?”  
  
Clint settled Evie down by the wall, sitting, and gave a short order for a guard to watch the shell-shocked woman. He faced Wanda. ”You can go in now. Come on.”  
  
  
Evie stayed in the hallway, back leant against the wall and head in her hands as her elbows rested on her bent knees. It was only maybe five minutes after Clint had disappeared back into the penthouse party room that he reappeared at the door and stood beside the brunette girl.  
  
”Wanda’s crying. Thought it best to leave them together for the moment,” he told her.  
  
”You knew,” Evelyn accused bitterly, pulling her head out of her hands to glare up at the archer. “You _knew_. This is what you’ve been doing the whole time you’ve been out of the house? This is why you couldn’t tell me, why you couldn’t tell us? You’ve been hiding the fact that a member of the team who supposedly died a few months ago is suddenly fucking alive again?!”  
  
”No. Well, not at first.” Barton sighed when Evie looked away from him with a dismissive grunt, sliding his back down the wall to sit next to her. He rested a hand on her knee. “At first it really was paperwork, just Avengers stuff after the last mission, loose ends and such, but then Nat asked me to look over a few things for her mission and that got me busy.” Another grunt from the girl but Clint continued. “And then Tony called me into the Tower and told me not to say anything to you before he got the chance to explain. Believe me, I reacted nearly as bad as you when I found out except it was directed at Tony instead of Pietro. Tony thought a familiar face might help Pietro adjust to being back a little easier. After all, being dead and then suddenly waking up in the Cradle’s gotta be a little funky.”  
  
Evie was silent, but then slowly turned to stare forward instead of away. She huffed, almost disbelieving. ”The Cradle? So that’s what Tony was so desperate to get the plans for? Oh my fucking god.” Her head thumped softly against the wall behind her as it fell back and she looked at the ceiling lights. “He was dead, Clint. You don’t just come back to life after you’re dead.”  
  
”Coulson did it.” Clint hated to correct her.  
  
Evie threw her arms up. ”Coulson was like a million to one chance and he was only stabbed through the chest.”  
  
”Steve did it.”  
  
”Steve went into the ice. Pietro was shot over and over.”  
  
”Not in any deathly important organs. Your forcefield made sure of that.” Evie’s head snapped to his direction, wide-eyed. “Yeah. If it hadn’t been for you, he probably wouldn’t be here for you to punch.”  
  
Evelyn rubbed her red knuckles as she was reminded of the throbbing, shaking her head in an attempt to clear it. ”I think I’m gonna be sick,” she mumbled at the floor.  
  
Clint squeezed her knee. ”Its a lot. I know. I’m still in shock.”  
  
She snorted. ”You’re doing a pretty good job at hiding it.”  
  
”Evie,” he said gently, and Evelyn looked up at him, tiredly.  
  
A pause, and then, ”Why was he on crutches?”  
  
Barton took in a breath, holding her hand instead and happy when she didn’t reject it. ”His legs shot up and so far they apparently don’t work properly. I’m not sure about the specifics, I wanted to wait for you and Wanda to see him first.”  
  
”Does his power still work?” she asked.  
  
Clint tilted his head. ”That’s something they’re still trying to figure out. His system is trying but being dead did something to his genetics.”  
  
She levelled him with a dangerous look. ”If you’re asking me to help this you can fuck off.”  
  
”I’m not.” Clint held up both hands, including the one he held Evie’s hand in. He dropped them when she relaxed and he looked back at the door. “You wanna go in again?” he questioned.  
  
Evie mulled it over for a minute. ”Yeah.”  
  
”Are you gonna punch him again?”  
  
”No promises.”  
  
  
Opening the door, the scene before them was both beautiful and heartbreaking. Pietro and Wanda were as close as they used to be, Wanda holding onto Pietro tightly and sobbing into his shoulder, him leaning on one crutch while he embraced his sister and let a few tears slip out of his own eyes.  
  
The rest of the group were scattered around, trying not to stare at the display and let the siblings have their moment together.  
  
”Calm now, Mouse?”  
  
”Tony, leave it alone.” Clint told him kindly to back off.  
  
”I’m not the one who hit him.” Tony raised his hands.  
  
”Its’s alright. I probably deserve it,” Pietro spoke up, much to everyone’s surprise including his sister who lifted her head off his shoulder for long enough to furrow her brow. Apparently being dead improved his manners.  
  
”Either way its good she didn’t give you a concussion, don’t know what could have happened. Even Cap wasn’t completely up to standards after two weeks of coming back to the present.”  
  
”Tony, shut it,” said Captain scolded Tony with the eyebrows of disappointment to match.  
  
”He’s been awake _two weeks_?” Evie pressed, expression fighting between exasperation and fury at the new information.  
  
”We kept him in the lab under observation-” Wanda felt her brother tighten his grip on her when the lab was mentioned by Bruce. “-and the tests we’ve done so far checked out.”  
  
”Yup. He’s a-okay,” Stark confirmed.  
  
”Except for this,” Pietro gritted out and gestured down to his legs. His distaste for the man hadn’t lessened even if the man had brought him back to the land of the living.  
  
”We’ll get to that, I swear. It just needs more time and study,” Tony promised in a more serious tone, clearly already having plans for him. ”Just make sure not to drive the old man crazy in the time between coming back for check-ups,” he added on.  
  
”Coming back?” Evie raised an eyebrow at Tony and then turned it on Clint.  
  
The archer cleared his throat and slid his hands onto his hips. ”He’s going to be staying with us during his recovery,” Clint announced quietly to the floor.  
  
Wanda sighed and sagged against Pietro, relief mixed with something else she couldn’t quite describe filling her system at the news.  
  
Evie, however, turned and tilted her head at the man she viewed as her father and gave him one of the flattest looks she could manage. "Is your natural instinct to just adopt everything you see?"  
  
In any other situation, Clint would have laughed and probably nodded yes, but he just pressed his lips together and looked over at Tony. “Where’s his stuff?”  
  
”Storage room underneath Wanda’s,” Tony told him.  
  
”I’ll get it. You get them to the car,” Evie said, already walking away and out the door before he could get a word in.  
  
Clint watched her disappear out of the door before he turned back to the twins cuddled up to each other, Wanda’s eyes as red as her magic and Pietro clinging onto her as if she were his lifeline. He sighed, preparing himself for what he was about to do now that he found his earlier confidence almost completely destroyed as the reality of the situation fully set in, and nodded calmly at the twins. ”Alright. Come on. Let’s get this show on the road.”


	27. Home

The first thing that happened after stepping through the front door following a loudly quiet drive back from the compound was Lucky tackling Pietro to the floor. Crutches went flying and the Sokivian yelped like a child.  
  
Clint called Lucky’s name and nearly had to drag the barking canine away from the ex-speedster while his sister helped him up from the floor with help from his crutches. ”Sorry. He just loves people. You’re not allergic, right?”  
  
Pietro straightened up as much as he could, trying not to look frightened as hell by being unexpectedly knocked down for the second time that day. ”I don’t think so.” He wasn’t eyeing Lucky like any kind of friend at that moment.  
  
Clint nodded as Lucky sat and panted happily, tail thumping against the floor in excitement at the new guest. ”Alright. Uh… how about you guys set up in front of the TV and I’ll get started on dinner? You can have the full tour after some food.”  
  
That decided, Wanda helped Pietro over to the couches and Evelyn dumped the bag of clothes Stark had provided down by the side before following Clint into the kitchen.  
  
”You sure this is a good idea?” she asked once they were out of earshot.  
  
”Leaving him at Tony’s would’ve been worse, wouldn’t it?” Clint answered, going through the cupboards beginning to make a start on dinner.  
  
”I don’t know. Sometimes my teammates don’t tell me things,” the younger replied sourly, sitting on the kitchen table while Clint shuffled around.  
  
The archer slowed his movements with a small sigh at her words. ”I didn’t find out until a week ago.”  
  
She folded her arms and looked out the nearest window.  
  
”Is this going to be a problem, Evelyn?” Clint raised an eyebrow.  
  
Evelyn was quiet for a long time, the drive having done virtually nothing for her attitude in response to the whole “not dead anymore” thing. “I hate secrets,” she declared finally, eyes moving to the open doorway where she could see Wanda and Pietro talking and trying to work the TV.  
  
Clint hummed, returning to his dinner-making. “You’re in the wrong business then, Evie.”  
  
Evelyn’s eyes landed on the crutches resting beside the sofa, rolling her bottom lip between her teeth as she thought. “We should put up some bannisters around the house, help him get around without always relying on the crutches.”  
  
”Sounds good. We can start doing that tomorrow.” Clint agreed, filling a pot with water and putting it on the stove to boil. Evie just nodded, head falling down to her hands in her lap, fidgeting with her sleeves. Clint hated how she looked. It was how Evie used to be with him, quiet and worrying over her own words. He poured a bag of pasta into the pot and turned on the heat before talking to her again. “This isn’t easy for me, either. I don’t enjoy staring that kid in the face after seeing him drop dead right in front of me any more than you do. I wanted to tell you.”  
  
”You mentioned Nat contacting you, too,” Evie mumbled, head staying down.  
  
Clint walked over to her, taking her hands hidden inside her sleeves into his own and squeezing gently. ”If I don’t tell you something, Evie, it’s not because I don’t trust you. I’m sorry if I’ve seemed neglectful these past few weeks. You are not my only responsibility, however, that _does not_ mean you aren’t important to me. This is all really complicated and I’m still trying to wrap my head around it without getting caught up in it all so I can help you do the same. But for now, I need you to be patient with me, and with Pietro. I can’t imagine how Wanda’s feeling right now but I imagine she needs her friend, she needs you. We all do.” He felt her hands grasp his back through the material of her sleeves. “Please, Evie. Just… try. You’re one of the strongest people I know, and I know you can handle this.”  
  
Throughout his little speech, he watched as Evie’s eyes turned glassy, and then she breathed in a long breath, tears streaking down her face, but she didn’t sob. It wasn’t a sobbing moment, just stress built up over the course of the day letting itself out then at Clint reminding her he was there. ”I don’t know what I’m doing.” she said barely above a whisper and Clint cupped her cheek, wiping her tears.  
  
”Well, let’s start with dinner first, and then take it from there, hm?” Clint nodded, and after wiping her tears with her sleeves and giving a sniff, Evelyn nodded along.  
  
Clint pulled her into a hug and she fiercely returned it. It was a sweet moment, neither had had a moment like this together in too long, Clint decided.   
  
”Are you officially home now or are you going to be disappearing off again for days on end?” she asked, burying her head in his shoulder.  
  
”I’m back,” he said.  
  
She nodded. ”Good. Because I need you.”  
  
  
Dinner was a tense affair all around, or at least for everyone except Lucky who was lying happily by Clint’s feet and being fed the occasional piece of pasta. No one really put forward any topics to discuss, all of them avoiding that one particular glaring subject together and finding nothing else came anywhere near as interesting.  
  
About halfway through, Clint eyed Pietro’s crutches, flicking to the stairs and back to them. ”I’ll set you up on the sofa for the time being, Pietro. I’ll see if I can’t clear out the room upstairs for you to have your own space,” he told him, taking a sip from his glass to cool himself down.  
  
Pietro nodded, poking at his food. Wanda subtly elbowed him in the side, prompting him to say “Thank you.” and shovel another forkful into his mouth. He was the fastest eater out of all of them, already finished while everyone else was at least half a plate behind.  
  
Another stretch of silence filled with flickering stares and chewing. ”I think there’s some sherbert in the freezer for after dinner,” the archer said, trying to lighten the mood but didn’t get much for his trouble other than hums from his three kids.  
  
Evelyn’s attention was taken when her phone buzzed and she pulled it out, scrolling through her texts.  
  
“No phones at the table, Evelyn,” Clint admonished.  
  
”It’s Tony,” she grunted.  
  
Clint under normal circumstances would have said he didn’t very much care who it was because the rule was _no phones at the table_, but seeing the look in Evelyn’s eyes that was just daring him to start something with her because she was emotionally exhausted, he wisely shut up about it.  
  
  
Nobody slept well in the house that night. Not for lack of trying, but there was just a mood in the house, like something was off and the house itself knew it.  
  
Evie at some ridiculous time in the morning close to sunrise got out of bed, fed up, and went downstairs for a drink that would keep her awake now she’d given up on sleeping completely. But as she got to the second-to-last step on the stairs, she saw the brown and silver locks of one Pietro Maximoff sitting up on the sofa watching reruns of a soap opera Clint had recommended.  
  
She stood there for a while watching him which may have been a little creepy but at some time close to five in the morning Evie was well past gives-a-shit o’clock. ”You’re still awake.” she eventually said, and though he didn’t scream, Pietro did jump about fifty feet in the air off the sofa as his head spun around and he spotted her.  
  
”Couldn’t sleep,” he said once he’d realised she wasn’t a murderer.  
  
Evie hummed, leaning on the wall. “Probably the sherbet. Shit ton of sugar doesn’t help anyone sleep.”  
  
”Is that why you are up?” Pietro asked, turning the volume on the TV down a little.  
  
Evie stayed quiet before taking in a breath and pushing herself off the wall, walking away. ”Want anything while I’m in the kitchen?”  
  
”No thank you,” Pietro responded quietly, going back to his shows.  
  
Evelyn pulled out a mug and started to boil the kettle. She had originally wanted to pour a coffee but decided against it and went with her old classic - hot chocolate. While she waited for the kettle, she had time to think which (as everyone knew by now) was a bad idea. When Evie had seen Pietro sitting up on the sofa, he’d looked exhausted. She wondered why he couldn’t sleep, or if he’d really slept at all since being awoken two weeks ago, and she was reminded of that night in the lab when she’d knocked on Wanda’s door and saw the two together after Wanda’s brief nightmare. They’d been so close, practically joined at the hip, only to be ripped apart from each other. Maybe Pietro didn’t like sleeping on his own, and now that Wanda had her own space, he struggled to behave normally on his own.  
  
The kettle boiled and she looked at her mug, making a decision and pulling out a second, pouring two cups of hot chocolate with mini marshmallows and cream on top. Exiting the kitchen, she walked around the sofa and put the second mug on the coffee table in front of Pietro without a word and without looking at him to see if he’d reject it. She quickly turned around and started climbing the stairs.  
  
”Goodnight, Evelyn.” he called after her, soft and unsure.  
  
Evie paused on the stairs for a brief moment but didn’t look back at him. She almost expected her hot chocolate to be suddenly whipped from her hand but it remained there, and she remained aware of all that was taken from him. He lost more than he gained back, even when he gained back his life.  
  
Evie jogged the rest of the stairs, trying not to let herself spiral back down there again. ”Go to bed, Pietro.” Her room door shut with a click.


	28. Cart

The next morning (or rather the same morning for Evie and Pietro) Clint suggested they all go shopping for the bannisters and physio equipment for Pietro which had to be _the _shittest group activity suggestion ever but everyone went along with it because what else could they really do? So, begrudgingly, they all clambered awkwardly into Clint’s car and drove to a large home and DIY store to wander around that may as well have been advertised as an adventure maze considering the size and amount of different ways you could walk around the place.  
  
Wanda got to push the cart, Pietro sticking close beside her with Clint and Evie staying at the front and leading the way.  
  
There were little toddlers running around giggling in the bedroom displays checking all the cupboards for a snowy land with a bright lamppost but always found none and whined to their mothers in disappointment. Evie could relate. She’d loved that book as a kid. But at the confused looks Pietro and Wanda were giving each other as they watched the children looking for lions and witches, she made a note on her phone to find a copy to give to them. It was a childhood classic.  
  
As Clint attempted to navigate them through the displays and to where they actually needed to go, a mother and her child were nearby waiting for the father to figure out which way the map was facing when the mother gasped dramatically and knelt by her child.  
  
”Hey look Freddy, its Hawkeye.” The thin woman with red-stained lips and fluttery eyes gestured to Clint spinning around, oblivious to the sudden attention.  
  
”No, it’s not.” Freddy made a face, shaking his head. He was only an inch taller than his mother when he knelt down on one knee, dressed in dungarees and a striped shirt with short dusty hair and a toy car in one hand.  
  
”It is.”  
  
”Then where’s his bow?” the child complained, crossing his arms.  
  
The mother chuckled, as did Evie when she noticed the little scene and tapped Wanda on the arm, nodding in their direction. Pietro and Wanda looked over in amusement.  
  
”Well he’s not fighting anyone right now, is he?” the mother replied with a sweet smile.  
  
”What about the monsters in the closets?” Freddy said, gesturing to a nearby cupboard with the toy car before circling around to behind his parent to hide.  
  
”They’re all scared away because he’s here.” the mother chuckled softly and did a double-take at Evelyn and the twins before gesturing in their direction. “And you see his friends? They were all at the battle of Sokovia with the evil robots.”  
  
”Really?”  
  
The three gave him little waves, Pietro leaning against the cart to wave and nearly knocking it over into a nearby stall but Evie caught it just in time and got a wheel running over her foot for the trouble. Wanda attempted to help, pulling the cart back and tripping over nothing to fall on her butt and nearly be knocked out by the cart's handlebars, just in time caught by Evelyn.  
  
The mother watched them, her admiring smile diminishing ever so slightly. ”Yeah, they’re all here to fight off the closet monsters,” she told her kid as the trio got ahold of themselves.  
  
Clint, who had finally noticed what was going on and why a few people in the room were beginning to take more notice of him and his group, turned to Evelyn. ”Evie, open that closet.” he pointed to the closet in question standing just behind her in a display.  
  
”Why?” She asked, brow furrowing in suspicion.  
  
”Just do it.” He smirked, a silent promise this would be good.  
  
Evelyn gave a glance towards the twins before opening the cupboard to a bare inside, but, after making sure he still had his audience, Clint jumped in front of her, arms raised like he was holding two swords and cried out. ”Arg! Closet monster! You’ve scared your last scare, foul thing! En Garde!” He began to pretend fight with an invisible monster that grappled onto him.  
  
The trio behind him burst into giggles, as did the little Freddy and his mom, as well as onlookers who glanced over to see what all the commotion was about and why Hawkeye, Avenger and world defender, was flouncing around like a crackhead. He eventually grabbed the monster and threw it to the ground, using an invisible bow to shoot it in the head and stomp on its body in triumphant victory. “The monster is no more, everyone. You can all rest easy tonight thanks to the valiant Hawkeye.” He thrust his arms out and did a dramatic bow to everyone, complete with a wave of his hand reminiscent of a person of royal status.  
  
A tiny gasp from Freddy and then a whispered ”It _is _him” in that pure hero-worshipping awe way made Clint grin and wave at him specifically, and Freddy waved back with the widest smile on his face before the father finally returned, now sure they were heading in the right direction to the nursery stock.  
  
Clint chuckled and closed the cupboard as the three adults standing behind him calmed down their laughter, turning back to them and giving a thumbs up and a wink.  
  
Pietro hummed, much happier than when he was rudely woken up from his couch nap a few hours before. ”Not bad. For an old man.”  
  
Clint raised a wagging finger ready to give him a lecture but then turned it on Evelyn, accusingly. ”Did he get that from you?”  
  
Evie opened her mouth with a long “uuuuuuh…” before looking past him and gesturing. ”I uh- oh look. Bannisters.”  
  
”Evie I’m serious.” He was not if the hands on his hips and pursed lips were anything to go by.  
  
”And so am I, they’re right there. How many do you reckon we need?” She moved around him and just out of reach of his grabbing hand, taking cover behind the aisle scaffolding before beckoning him over.  
  
Clint let it go and after sending a look back over his shoulder at the ex-speedster joined her at the bannisters. ”Only a couple. It’s the standing bars I’m worried about,” he hummed, looking at the sizing and checking the wall measurements on his phone notes he took that morning.  
  
”Tony probably has some kicking around somewhere. I could ask.” Evie pulled out her own phone and started texting Stark.  
  
”Sure. Wanda, can you help me put these in the cart, please?” Clint called out. He did not expect three different sizes of long wooden varnished poles to fly over his head and land safely in the cart by way of red magic. “I meant with your hands but that also works.” He gave a wry smile and Wanda shrugged a shoulder, apologetically, while Pietro snickered to himself.  
  
Evie flicked her eyes around at the other patrons in the area, not many but some were staring at Wanda, mostly with curiosity but there were some concerned individuals that didn’t bother to hide how unimpressed they were with the display. She leaned closer to Clint and lowered her voice. ”Might wanna avoid that in public places in the future. You know not everyone in the world is thrilled about enhanced individuals.”  
  
Clint did a quick glance around, spotting the people, and nodded. ”I’ll talk to her about it when we get back.” He glanced back when Evie’s phone vibrated. “What’s he saying?”  
  
”He’ll send them over in a few days after their check-up.” she read out as they walked back over to the twins. Another buzz. “Also their check-up is on Monday.”  
  
Clint clapped his hands together, nodding and trying to distract the twins from the concerned looks on their faces at the mention of check-ups. ”Right. Who’s hungry?”  
  
  
Monday was as awkward as it could have been. Driving the twins back to Stark’s lab was not something either of them looked even remotely happy about, even when Evie and Clint tried reassuring them all the tests would be given only with their permission and nothing like Strucker’s experiments. Though no one said it, everyone knew the twins didn’t believe them. This was Stark they were talking about, and though they may have fought on the same side to save the world, that didn’t change what had happened to them in the past. And while that was understandable, it was not helpful.  
  
They led the twins up to Bruce and Tony’s labs, and the worst arguments came when it was suggested they split up for testing.  
  
”Look, nothing is going to happen without anyone’s consent here, okay? No one’s forcing these tests on you, they are just regulation and to make sure no one is ill for an unknown or unnecessary reason,” Tony tried to explain and to be honest he really should have been the last person attempting to console the Maximoffs.  
  
Wanda was at least trying to be calm and breathe through the whole thing but her brother didn’t seem to agree, protective instincts just as fierce as they had been to behind with. ”How about this? I’ll stay with Wanda when she’s being tested, Evelyn can stay with you while you’re being tested,” Clint suggested to Pietro since he seemed to be the one causing the most arguments over the subject.  
  
Pietro didn’t look happy, he didn’t even look angry, he just looked upset and pouty like a child at their favourite toy being taken away. That probably should have been more worrying than it was. But then Pietro was looking at Evelyn, and they stared at each other for a long time, both aware that something was still not sitting right between them but both refusing to admit it.  
  
He took a deep breath in and let it out through his nose. “Fine. But Stark doesn’t touch her.”  
  
Clint nodded. ”I’ll make sure Dr Banner is the only one, and that’s only when necessary.”  
  
”Of course. I wouldn’t if it wasn’t required.” Banner held his hands up, still not comfortable with the Maximoff’s himself considering their past together.  
  
Pietro gave one last glance to Evelyn before nodding his head in permission.  
  
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and Wanda was led into the lab room, the door sliding shut behind them and Evie was left with Pietro.  
  
The outside lab seemed much quieter than normal. Possibly because there were no genius billionaires or half-monsters running around trying to build a world-destroying robot but hey, can’t be a genius every day. However the silence was not a fun one, and as Pietro sat in an uncomfortable plastic chair and Evie leaned on a glass wall overlooking the party room where she’d much rather be because there was alcohol on hand, the two remained silent and waiting.  
  
”The hot chocolate was nice.” Pietro was the first to break the silence.  
  
Oh, so they were going to talk about that? ”I prefer it over coffee,” Evie replied, shrugging a shoulder like it was nothing. It had been nothing… kinda. She was making one already and Pietro was up so why not? “Clint loves coffee. All he ever has.” she continued, clicking her fingers randomly by her sides. “Coffee. All the time. Just… all the time with the coffee. He has an addiction. Coffee addiction,” she proceeded to ramble, “Should buy him caffeine patches. Ssssso addicted.”  
  
Awkward silence sufficiently acknowledged, the two went quiet again until the door opened and Clint stepped out with Wanda, the only thing changed was her cardigan on one arm pulled up and a little bandage now on the crook of her arm.  
  
”Pietro. You’re up.” Clint said, and the two made their way into the lab.  
  
Pietro was fairly well behaved through all the routine tests Bruce gave him. Tony stayed well away just as he had for Wanda’s tests, in the corner beside a computer as Bruce ran all the up-close tests. He remained a statue staring forward at the wall when they took his blood. Whether that was a coping mechanism for needles or just trying to show how irritated he was at Tony in the corner was anyone’s guess. Bruce entered the blood in a sampling machine and brought the scans onscreen as FRIDAY ran them through a biological scanning system.  
  
”His genetics are almost exactly the same as he was when he died, the only issue being his body isn’t sure of itself yet.” Bruce told them, gesturing to the images onscreen of his blood compared to a normal healthy human’s. “So Pietro should, in theory, still have his abilities, both in agility and healing.”  
  
”In theory,” Evelyn repeated, staring at the diagrams. She considered it for a few moments, then turned to the boy. ”Pietro.” He hummed and looked up from the floor. “Try moving your hand really quickly. Just your hand.” She shook her own in a ‘Jazz hand’ motion as an example.  
  
Pietro lifted his hand off his knee, staring at it. He stared at it for a few moments, brow furrowing and teeth-gritting before it fell back to his knee with a grunt. ”I can’t do it. I can’t… feel it. My powers, they felt like they were thrumming in my veins before, now I don’t feel anything.” He tensed up his fist before releasing it again, doing that a few times as he realised his powers were well and truly gone.  
  
”Well, what do we do now?” Evie looked back at the scientists.  
  
”The only thing you can do, I suppose, in this case - wait.” Bruce answered, sucking the inside of his cheek.  
  
”So we have to just wait for my powers to come back?” Pietro asked.  
  
”If at all,” Evie added.  
  
”There’s not much else we can do. Pietro’s body took a shock when he died, his system is still getting used to having been brought back,” Bruce replied, hands fidgeting with a pen. “I’m sorry, I don’t specialise in an enhanced field of medicine, I’m doing the best I can.”  
  
”We know, Bruce, thank you.” Evie nodded at him and he looked back at the screens, fiddling with his glasses. ”What about his legs, then?”  
  
”They’ll heal. They’re healing correctly so far. Its lucky no bullets hit his spine or we’d be in much bigger trouble than just crutches,” Tony explained, standing up from his desk. “If he’ll walk straight again? That’s up to time, too. Practice the physio exercises we discussed and you should be all good.”  
  
”Should,” Pietro repeated grimly.  
  
”We’ll keep it on track at the lab. In the meantime, you watch to see if he feels any different about his abilities and keep bringing him and his sister here every fortnight.”  
  
”How’s Wanda?”  
  
”She’s in the all-clear. No issues with her body, her enhancements are as stable as you can get. Regular training with her power should increase her control and that’s the only thing I got about that.”  
  
”Good.” Evie nodded and gestured for Pietro to stand. He did and they left Bruce and Tony in the lab before joining the other two outside and swapping information.  
  
Pietro looked more downtrodden than he had in the car and no one could blame him, he’d lost his enhancements and now he couldn’t even walk properly and might not ever again. All they could do in the meantime was to train and wait.  
  
And wasn’t that just everyone’s favourite thing to do?


	29. Support

As the days went on, the bannisters were installed and Tony sent over the physio bars for Pietro to practice walking without his crutches with in the sunroom. As a week passed, the house settled its offishness and the four settled into somewhat of a routine, Pietro still sleeping on the sofa while Evie and Clint planned how to handle his room. They could move things into the garage for storage but having Pietro stumble up and down the stairs every morning and evening wasn’t an efficient idea until he was healed properly.   
  
That was the dream Pietro was clinging onto, and it hurt that nobody knew whether it could actually be made possible ever again. Sure, he would heal, but if he would heal to be the same as he was before getting shot up was anyone’s guess.  
  
In the meantime, everyone made themselves busy with their own lives and tried to move on around the speedbumps (bad choice of words, Evie winced) and so Evelyn returned to an old favourite, sitting at the kitchen table with a screwdriver and a moody cleaning robot. She finished screwing the back panel on it and resticking the tape over it before bringing it back into the living room, passing Clint on the way and making him pause.  
  
”Is that the Roomba?” he asked as she put it down on the floor.  
  
”Yup.”  
  
Wanda and Pietro looked around from where they were on the sofa watching TV, a cooking channel in a language Evie had yet to grasp. ”Why do you still have that thing?” Wanda asked, curiously.  
  
”I do believe I’ve fixed it.” Evie flicked a switch on the side and took a few steps back, motioning for Clint to do the same until they were flush against the wall. She then pulled out a small remote fashioned from the old air conditioning remote Clint had mentioned wanting to throw out a few weeks prior. “Let’s see how this goes.” She pressed her thumb on a button.  
  
The Roomba rumbled to life, a red light on its back illuminating, and when Evie pressed a second button, the light turned green and the Roomba turned a quarter turn to the left and slowly began cleaning the carpet lying behind the sofa.  
  
”Wow. It actually-”  
  
The success was short-lived when the light suddenly turned red and it propelled itself into the far wall like Lucky chasing a ball, the same canine who had walked in just in time for the Roomba to zoom past threateningly, and then followed a yelp and a lot of barking as the Roomba continued pushing into the wall without remorse.   
  
”Jeez. Stick a knife to it and you could kill someone with that thing.” Clint winced as it continued to scratch up the wall.  
  
”Yes. It will kill someone by stabbing at their heels. Clint, unless its attacking Achilles, I don’t really think that’s gonna work,” Evie replied, clicking her tongue and pushing another button on the Roomba to stop it.  
  
Pietro had moved from the sofa and was petting Lucky to calm the one-eyed dog down while giving a strange look at the violent device slumped against the wall. ”What is this?”  
  
”A very temperamental Roomba is what that is,” Evie said, and another button had it whirring back to life and bumping -much gentler this time- into Pietro’s ankles. “Looks like he likes you,” she chuckled softly, hoping the Roomba would stay as gentle as it was acting and not have a freakout trying to kill Pietro in a slow robotic death.   
  
Didn’t need more than one of those in your life, after all.  
  
”He?” Pietro looked up, confused at the human pronoun on a machine.  
  
Whoops. She’d forgotten about the naming thing. ”…yup.”  
  
”Did you give it a name?”  
  
”Yes, she-”  
  
Evie hand quickly covered Clint’s mouth, shaking her head hastily. ”No. No, I didn’t. I did not name it. I just use male pronouns because other people usually use female pronouns for machines and, you know, break the mould and stuff.” She smiled desperately. Pietro gave her a suspicious look, leaning down on one crutch and picking the purring Roomba up by its side. “Oh, no, no, no, please don’t turn it…” He flipped it to look at the underside. “…over.”  
  
Pietro stayed quiet for a long time, staring at the guilty piece of duct tape scrawled over with permanent marker before he said anything. ”Why does it have my name written on it?” he finally asked.  
  
”She named it after you,” Clint helpfully informed him much to Evelyn’s chagrin.  
  
The ex-speedster raised an eyebrow. ”Why?”  
  
Evie opened her mouth to answer but nothing came out. She noticed Wanda had taken a deeper interest in the proceedings, poking her head up over the back of the sofa and resting her arms on it to watch the little scene. ”I like the name Pietro,” she eventually answered, folding her arms self-righteously. “Don’t look so smug,” she added, scoffing at his smirking face.  
  
”You like my name.”  
  
Evie scowled. ”I like _the _name. It’s not just yours. A lot of other people are called “Pietro” too.”  
  
”Such as?” Clint asked, leaning on the kitchen doorway with a too-sweet smile, happily enjoying the display.  
  
Evie could not think of a single fucking example. ”Uh…” she said eloquently.  
  
”Just one example would suffice.” Clint smiled and held back a giggle behind her.  
  
”Shut up, old man.” Evie grumbled at him, folding her arms and looking very unhappy about it.  
  
Clint didn’t even bother to look annoyed at her jab, nodding towards the Roomba and Pietro still clutching onto it. ”Fix that one, Little Miss.” He returned to the kitchen to pour a coffee.  
  
”Please put the Roomba down,” Evie requested.  
  
”Please put what down?” He furrowed his brow and tilted his head.  
  
”The Roomba.”  
  
”The who?” He inclined his head forward a little like was suddenly having problems understanding the English language. “I do not know anybody called “Roomba”.”  
  
Evie paused and sighed as she realised. She knew what he wanted her to say, and though she wasn’t really in the mood for playing around after Clint’s teasing alone, she gave up the issue and gave him what he wanted. ”Please put down Pietro, Pietro.” she said as politely as she could manage while imagining beating Clint over the head with the Roomba in question. Pietro chuckled and put the little robot on the floor only for it to zoom straight into another wall and leave a matching mark. “Gonna have to start calling you Pietro One and Pietro Two,” Evie hummed to herself, finally switching it off with a grumpy expression like a smart person.  
  
”You could have called it Roadrunner,” Pietro reminded her of that little nugget of genius.  
  
She raised her head. ”That’s actually a very good point. Damn. I could have made it go “meep meep” and everything.”  
  
”Meep meep?” Pietro squinted in confusion.  
  
And for the first time since he woke up, Evelyn was glad Pietro was in her company, and pulled out her phone quick enough to almost drop it on the floor. ”I gotta show you something.”  
  
That’s how Clint found the three laughing and giggling before calling them for dinner, all gathered around the TV now streaming cartoons from Evie’s phone. He’d stayed for a few minutes, chuckling softly and scaring the crap out of the trio who’d yet to notice his presence before he was calling them into the kitchen to sit down for dinner, smiling and giggling.  
  
It was after the laughter died down that Wanda spoke up. ”I’m going to meet Vision tomorrow.”  
  
The table paused to look at her.   
  
”What time?” Clint asked.  
  
”In the morning. We arranged to have coffee together,” she revealed her plans that she’d managed to arrange and apparently no one else knew about.  
  
”Can a toaster even drink coffee?” Pietro asked, twirling his fork in the lasagne.  
  
”P.” Wanda gave him a look.  
  
”You’re going on your own?” Pietro asked, a little harder.  
  
”Yes,” Wanda answered, also a little harder in tone like she was telling her brother she could handle herself.   
  
_Good for her, _Evie thought.  
  
Clint coughed into his fist, drawing the attention back on him and away from the stare-locked siblings. ”Its Thursday tomorrow anyway, Farmer’s Market is open, so I’ll be out all morning.”  
  
Pietro’s eyes snapped to Clint. ”I thought we were going to practise tomorrow morning,” he said in indication to his physio bars in the nearby sunroom.  
  
”Evie can do it with you,” Clint responded easily, dropping the brunette in the thick of it and into Pietro’s half-confident stare towards her. It was the same feeling she’d felt when they were waiting outside the lab for Wanda to finish her tests, and she nodded.  
  
”Yeah. Evie can do it with you.” Evelyn agreed and tried not to think about finding the Roomba to hit Clint with for the second time that day.  
  
  
The next morning came early with no problems to start. Wanda left at the same time Clint did, leaving Pietro, Evelyn, and Lucky in the house alone for the first time since getting here together. Which also left Evelyn with Pietro when it came time for Pietro to practise his physio, which was as painful for Evie to watch as it was for Pietro to do.  
  
”Go again,” Evie said after Pietro fell into her arms and then slumped defeatedly to the floor for the fifth time during their practice.  
  
"I cannot. I can't do it." Pietro rose to his hands and knees then turned to sit on the floor beside the bars, leaning back against the stand and panting out.   
  
"You can. You just need patience," Evelyn attempted to reassure him.  
  
"No. It is never going to work. I can't do this." He looked heartbroken, staring out of the sunroom windows at the yard outside, the look longing for what didn’t seem possible to ever grasp no matter how hard he tried. A bit dramatic when he’d only been doing this for a couple of weeks but give him a break, he’d come back from the dead.  
  
The mechanic sighed and sat down opposite him, leaning back on the other parallel bar. "Look, I know you're used to living life in the fast lane, pun completely intended, but these things take time. You are getting better, it’s not like you’re not making progress."  
  
"What if there's an emergency? What if I'm needed and I can't do anything? What if my sister needs me?” he listed off a bunch of possibilities, running his hands over his face and through his hair. “What if you do?" he added, and Evie ignored it.  
  
"Give yourself the time you need to recover. If you strain yourself it will take longer and if you give up completely you won't get better, full stop," she told him a little firmer, the same voice Clint used when he was trying to snap her out of a stupid self-hating spiral when she just couldn’t grapple a certain move in training.  
  
"I miss it. I want to feel what it was like again. I don't want to wait." he whined but it wasn’t like a child, it was desperate and wanting, his hands grasping at nothing as they curled into fists and uncurled out again. Having a power like that had made him impatient and impulsive, and now stuck at the same speed as everyone else he struggled to channel it out properly.  
  
Evie shook her head, looking away and out of the window. She didn’t like seeing him like this. It hurt, even more when she knew she couldn’t do much to help. She wasn’t a physician, she hadn’t ever been in Pietro’s position, she hadn’t known power like that only to be ripped away from you along with your life, even if you gained one of those things back a little while later. She tried to imagine it, going at blistering speeds, the wind tousling your hair, seeing everything a million times slower than it did for everyone else.  
  
The idea hit her like a brick to the head. Like lighting a match against an ignition strip, inspiration struck and she was suddenly aware of how to help Pietro feel that feeling again. And it would be perfectly safe. Maybe it wasn’t a completely accurate dupe but it would be better than nothing.  
  
Evie stood up so suddenly she nearly gave herself nausea, but she held it back at Pietro stared up at her, electric blue eyes narrowing in confusion. "Give yourself a ten minute break, eat and drink something, and then meet me outside. I have something that might cheer you up a little."  
  
Pietro watched her run out of the sunroom back through the kitchen and then disappear into the house. She didn’t know what the strange American lady was suddenly so excited about, but if she was excited about doing something with him, then he may as well check it out. He did as she asked, although waiting ten minutes while sporadically looking at the clock and bouncing a foot made it seem like ten years, he finally stood, grabbing his crutches and eating before he headed outside into the driveway.  
  
When he saw her sitting there on the motorcycle, it clicked.  
  
  
Pietro had missed the exhilaration his powers granted him. The rest of the world was stuck moving together while he moved in a rhythm all of his own. And being on the back of Evie’s motorcycle with his crutches balanced across his lap was not exactly the same but a pretty good dupe for the sensation, when the wind breezed through his hair, when they turned corners and blasted past trucks and stray cars leaving them in the dust as they rushed on up the hillside, when he couldn’t stop himself laughing as Evie giggled when they nearly bumped into something and at the last minute pulled out of the way. His blood was pumping, his gut was spinning, and he held tightly onto the girl in front of him with a grin a mile wide.  
  
He almost pouted when they reached their destination and Evie told him to move his butt. Regardless, when she helped him up the rocky steps to the hill with the grand tree, he was still so pumped on adrenaline he couldn’t do anything but smile and let out a few happy giggles.  
  
”That was amazing.” he said, looking out over the view of the hillside and eyes trailing the road they took back towards Clint’s.  
  
”I know. Your sister said the same thing when I brought her up here,” Evie told him as she sat them down on the edge with a long sigh. She made a spitting side as the breeze blew a section of her hair into her mouth and she brushed it away. “It’s windy. I told her we’d all have to have a picnic up here sometime when we wouldn’t be blown over with it. I also said I would remember to bring the ginger beer when we do.” she said, pointedly looking at Pietro with the last part, and he smiled, eyes flicking away as he remembered. “Yeah, she told me something about you two running around a field and ginger beer.” Evie chuckled softly.  
  
Pietro’s smile was happy as he recalled the memory, but slowly Evie noticed when it edged into bittersweet. Pietro licked his bottom lip, thinking, and it was a while before he said anything. ”Before the bombings, we didn’t have much, even less after our parents died,” he began. “But we kept close, each other the only thing we had left to hold onto. I vowed to always keep her safe, she was my world, and I was hers. I watch her grow up, try to be protector, maybe sometimes I smothered her but I was trying to help. Now I see her, she smiles, she is happy here. I did not think that would be possible for her, I hoped I could be all she needed, but I… know that she needs more. She needs you.” he admitted, looking directly into Evelyn’s eyes. “And the others,” he added softly. “She is my sweet little sister. But she is your friend too. And I accept that.”   
  
That admission was a lot for Pietro. He knew he didn’t want Wanda to only have him for the rest of her life, and although he was still on the fence about Stark and that Doctor Banner, perhaps Clint and Natasha and possibly even the Captain were not so bad.  
  
Evie smiled. “Thank you,” she said softly and nodded.  
  
Pietro nodded back, turning his eyes back to the landscape ahead of him. ”And now I can’t believe my sweet little sister is going out with a toaster.”  
  
Evie snorted at the sudden change in tone. ”Hey, no one said they were going out. They’re just getting coffee.”  
  
”That’s what I said. They are going out,” Pietro said, brow drawing in confusion.  
  
”No, they’re just getting coffee. It’s not a date.” Evie corrected, raising an eyebrow.  
  
”I didn’t say it was.”  
  
”You said…” Evie paused, trying to figure out what he meant. Then it clicked and she nearly facepalmed. “Saying ‘going out’ usually means that the two people you’re talking about are dating,” she explained.  
  
Pietro nodded slowly. ”Oh. I did not mean that,” he assured her.  
  
”Yeah, I caught that.”  
  
Pietro’s face scrunched in thought. ”Can the Vision even drink?”  
  
Evie opened her mouth then paused when she gave the idea more thought, eyes flicking away to the middle distance as she imagined the complications of Vission ingesting food or water. ”I have… absolutely no idea now that I think about it,” she answered looking back at him.  
  
Pietro seemed amused by the idea but not curious enough to actually find out. The little smile he had on his lips told her he was imagining it, and Evie had to admit that was cute. Pietro was relaxed, he was having fun, and right then and there he was happy with sitting on the edge of a hill with her and just talking, the idea that he’d died and his legs no longer working properly the furthest thing from his mind. Carefree.  
  
Evie realised she was staring but didn’t bother to stop herself, especially when Pietro seemed to notice and got caught staring back, smile gone but eyes still full of electric life. From this close, she could make out the silvery veins in the crystal blue, and the roots of his hair a clear brunet with frosted ends. He was growing his beard in, and Evie found she preferred it shorter, but the slightly scruffy style suited him well. His lips were bitten from frustration and concentration while practising his physio and growing steadily angrier when he couldn’t do it. Though she hated having the habit herself, on him, it was kind of endearing.  
  
When that thought struck her, she realised they were only a metre apart on the hill, and the two were staring in total silence at each other and it was just a little bit freaky. She shook her head and glanced away. ”Clint’s back,” she blurted at the figure exiting his car on the driveway.  
  
”Where?” Pietro peeled his eyes off her face and squinted.  
  
”There. Can you see him?” Evie gestured down the hill.  
  
Pietro’smeyes scanned the hill and the many houses befoe finally spotting theirs. ”He looks so small from up here!” he said, laughing.  
  
”Shhh! He’ll hear you,” Evie shushed him.  
  
”He’s an old man. He won’t hear anything we say.” Pietro shrugged it off, still grinning madly.  
  
”I doubt it with the hearing aids he wears.”  
  
Pietro cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted. ”Hey old man! Can you hear me?!”  
  
”Pietro…” Evie shook her head.  
  
”Your outfit sucks!”  
  
”I’m gonna abandon you on this hill to die.”  
  
”I am faster than you even with the broke legs!”  
  
”I’m leaving you here.”  
  
Pietro awkwardly crawled towards her quickly disappearing figure. ”No, no. Please don’t. Evelyn. Evie. Evie, please.” He grabbed his crutches and pushed himself up, chasing after her in an awkward hobble.  
  
  
The motorcycle came to a smooth halt at the top of the driveway, Evie cutting off the engine and stepping off before Pietro, helping him off the seat and onto his crutches without smashing his face into the brick inlay.  
  
Pietro stood up with a smile, shaking out his hair that had been blown back in the breeze and his eyes landed on the motorcycle, his smile fading just a little. "I miss that," he mumbled, the look of longing slowly taking over his eyes and fading his smile.  
  
Evie didn’t like that look, she knew it so well from her own life, so she thought of something to try and cheer him up. "I'll make you a deal, Pietro," Evie said, instantly grabbing the younger boy’s attention. "For every day that you practise physio and make progress without giving up, I'll take you out on the bike. And I will do that every day until you can run just as fast or even faster than my Harley. Deal?"  
  
Pietro’s eyes sparked with life as his grin grew wide enough to break his face. "Deal." He nodded vigorously at her.  
  
Evie smiled softly at him and went to put the bike back in the garage.  
  
Clint coming around the corner interrupted them. ”Hey. Wanda said she’ll be back in time for lunch,” he told them, approaching with an oil rag in his hands.  
  
”Ah. We were just… weren’t you wearing a different shirt before?” Evie furrowed her brow at the archer’s change of attire.  
  
”Yeah. I changed it because I thought the audience opinion was that my outfit sucked,” Clint replied, hanging the cloth over his shoulder.  
  
Evie turned to a head-ducking Pietro and smirked. ”Told you soooooo.”


	30. Bathwater

“The scans say all the muscle tissue is repairing in the way it should be and at a positive rate. As long as you continue with your exercises and don’t strain yourself by pushing too hard, there is a very high chance you will be able to walk without them before the end of the year.”

”Great.” Pietro sighed and let his head lean back to hit the wall, eyes sliding closed in relief.

”What about his abilities?” Evelyn asked.

Bruce brushed the holoscreen scans away to take another look at the ex-speedster sitting stretched awkwardly in the plastic lab chair. ”Do you… feel them at all?” Bruce tried to remember how Pietro had described feeling his power in his body.

Pietro shook his head. “No more than the last time you asked.” He sounded vaguely bitter about it.

Evelyn nudged his arm, causing him to open his eyes and look up at her standing beside him. ”They’re trying. All we can do is wait, yeah?” She tried to remind him and remain hopeful, regardless of her own doubts on whether his abilities would fully return or not.

Pietro took a deep breath in, one hand running through his hair and tugging as he let out another sigh.

”Getting kinda long there, Flash. Are you gonna leave it with the unemployed journalist look or cut and redye when you get the chance?” Tony asked as he turned away from the computer screen on his desk and rolled himself and his chair out a little from behind it.

”I didn’t dye it,” Pietro grunted.

Three pairs of confused eyes turned to him and his half-unnatural hair colour.

”It turned that way when you got your abilities?” Evie asked, receiving a nod. She hummed, thinking, before patting his arm again and nodding at the doctor. “We’ll keep an eye on him. Thanks Bruce, Tony.”

The door closed behind them and Pietro hobbled alongside Evelyn back towards his sister and Clint. ”It’s getting long,” he agreed.

”We could set you up an appointment to get it cut if it’s bothering you,” Evelyn suggested and Pietro shrugged as best he could when walking with his crutches.

”All good?” Clint asked once they reached them.

”All good. Also, he needs a haircut.” Evie reached up to pat his head, an action she would have paused at if Pietro’s dog-like growl at her hadn’t been such a distraction. She retracted her hand, scolding, “Hey, don’t growl at me. I was just thinking of letting you ride back to Clint’s on the motorcycle with me but since you don’t seem interested…” She folded her arms and looked away, glancing back when Pietro made a noise of interest and confusion instead. ”Why do you think I brought it with me when Clint’s our personal chauffeur?”

”Your personal chauffeur that will kick you out of the car on a busy highway if you call him that again.” Clint warned them, earning a small chuckle from Wanda, before they made their way towards the car park. “By the way, Nat’s coming over for dinner and she’s bringing Thomas.”

”Who’s Thomas?” Pietro asked.

”Old friend. Have they finished their mission?” Evie asked as they followed into the elevator.

Clint hit the ground floor button and the doors closed. ”As far as I know. Nat wasn’t ready to get into the specifics over text, just gave the warning to set two extra places at the table.”

”Fair enough.” Evie shrugged, then glanced at the youngest Maximoff beside her. “Maybe Wanda should invite Vision then if we’re bringing plus one’s.”

The witch ducked her head. “It’s not like that.”

”Suuuuure.”

”Be nice.” Clint gave Evie a look and she held her hands up in surrender. Then Clint said, “Though you could if you wanted to, Wanda. Even for coffee one morning.”

Wanda scrunched her mouth to the side, humming. ”Maybe.”

Clint loved having guests, especially for dinner when he could show off his culinary skills (*cough* or lack thereof *cough) but sometimes Natasha sending a text only a couple of hours before dropping in could be irritating, as well as adding she was bringing a guest with her, but Clint made do. So, by the time the spider and her little team leader came swinging by, Clint had dinner in the oven and the table all set.

When Natasha came through the door while Thomas parked the car, Evie was the only other one not present downstairs due to an ill-timed shower, and so missed the small awkward greeting between Natasha and Pietro by the door, Natasha having heard about his “re-awakening” but only now seeing him alive and well. Natasha was used to seeing dead men walk, shaking his hand calmly, Pietro evidently not as he shuffled and coughed as he took the extended olive branch, not sure what to make of the assassin he’d barely talked to since they joined forces with the Avengers.

Luckily, Natasha was called through to the kitchen by Clint before it could drag on too long, and Pietro and Wanda decided to take a walk through the garden before dinner.

And so when Evie came down the stairs with damp hair and smelling a lot better than engine oil and sweat, she nearly bumped straight into Thomas walking through pocketing the car keys.

”Hey.” Thomas waved, sliding his jacket off to hang over one arm.

”Hey. You look like shit.” Evie said as her eyes scanned over his face; a split lip, a fresh pink scar cutting a few inches just underneath the left jaw, and a pretty black eye to match all on the same side.

Thomas clicked his tongue and tilted his head. ”Thanks, Evelyn. I really appreciate that after a long and tiring mission.”

Evie smiled and rolled her eyes, nudging him a little. ”You know you’d say the same if roles were reversed.”

”Yeah, that’s true,” Thomas chuckled with a shrug.

Evelyn hummed biting her lip as her voice lowered a little. ”You do look pretty roughed up though. You okay?”

Thomas shrugged, dismissively. ”Just a couple of scrapes, nothing major.”

Evie studied him again, noticing the unusually slumped posture for a man that carried himself like a king, and the tired look that clouded his normally fiery blue eyes.

”Something bothering you?” she asked more seriously.

Thomas rolled his lips in, staying quiet, before nodding his head towards the couch.

Both took a seat in front of the TV and Thomas hung up his coat over the back before he started to explain, ”One of the targets we were hunting down with Natasha was a slippery guy, an utter scumbag but he was cleverer than we anticipated. We tracked him down to an old industrial warehouse by the docks and the team got separated in the search, soon realising we’d been played and wandered straight into a trap - the place was rigged up to explosives. We evacuated. It was a close call for all of us, we thought everyone got out but when we collected on the docks after the explosion… we were short one person in the headcount.”

His hand fisted on one knee, the other digging his nails into his jean-clad thigh as Evie listened with wide eyes. He took a deep breath in but it did nothing to relax him. ”I keep telling myself that its gonna be okay, it happens in our line of work. This… isn’t the first time I’ve lost someone like this but its the first time its been on my watch.” He swallowed and shook his head, looking away.

”It wasn’t your fault,” Evie said softly.

”I knew him, I know his family. Now I have to look them in the eye and tell them their son isn’t coming home. I know it wasn’t all my fault but that doesn’t make me feel any better,” Thomas replied, taking another deep breath and uncurling his fist before clenching it up again, a small shake in the muscles visible.

”You will. Eventually,” Evie said, trying her best to comfort him. She’d lost people over the years, hard not to with her own work, SHIELD or not anymore this was part of the job for both of them, but the after-effects weren’t the same for everyone. She shuffled closer and opened her arms. “Come here.”

Thomas looked at her blankly for a moment, but the next he was in her arms and squeezing hard.

Evelyn held him close to her chest, his head resting on her shoulder as he evened out his breathing, one hand rubbing circles over his back.

It wasn’t clear how long they stayed there, the TV not being on to tell them how many ads they sat through and the only other noise in the room were indistinct muffled words coming from the kitchen by Nat and Clint. Perhaps they were discussing the same thing. It was likely. But Evie was focused on holding Thomas until his breathing evened out and his body relaxed, whether from exhaustion or relief it wasn’t clear until he lifted his head.

”Thanks.”

Evie smiled. ”You’re welcome”

Approaching footsteps with metal clinking sounds made the two look to the front door where the ex-speedster was shuffling his way in without Wanda by his side, possibly still in the garden. The boy did a double-take at the scene before him once he’d noticed the two agents on the sofa wrapped up in each other.

When Evelyn had successfully found a substitute for the awkward atmosphere she’d missed out on between Natasha and Pietro earlier, she cleared her throat and detangled herself from Thomas. ”Uh, hey. Pietro, this is Thomas Denver. Thomas, Pietro Maximoff.” She stood up as she introduced him, Thomas standing with her.

”Hey.” He nodded formally and stook out his hand to shake.

”Hello,” Pietro said.

Thomas waited a few long seconds with his hand out before taking it back with a click of his tongue. ”Cool,” he mumbled.

”Dinner’s done!” Clint interrupted with the grace of a mallard duck, sticking his head through from the kitchen door.

”Right. Dinner.” Evie hummed, eyes glancing between Thomas and Pietro who hadn’t broken from their staring match since Pietro noticed them on the sofa.

  
Dinner was a much smoother affair. The conversation flowed easily thanks to Natasha’s skills in managing to distract everyone from long pauses by bringing up Clint’s early SHIELD days, to which Clint fired back a few stories of his own about the redhead and was quietly threatened with glares that promised future revenge. All in all, for Clint’s lack of culinary skills and the earlier tension, dinner went over well and it wasn’t long after dessert that Natasha and Thomas were saying their goodbyes to the trio.

Lucky had managed to disappear outside just as the rain began to pour, and Nat and Thomas decided to hit the road before it got worse, leaving with the promise to all go out for drinks sometime soon. Evelyn decided she would definitely be hiding her keys from Clint on that night. They waved goodbye to the car speeding away into the rainy night and separated, Clint going to clean the dishes and Wanda sitting in front of the TV, leaving Evie and Pietro by the front door. Just as the door was about to close, a sopping wet and mucky canine came happily darting back into the house and trailing mud all around the living room in a dripping circle.

”Oh Lucky, what did you do?” Evelyn face-palmed quietly in the corner, meanwhile Lucky sped around the living room, stopping and sitting dead centre on the carpet with his tail thumping away on the floor. The dog barked, looking happier than anything, and the girl sighed. “Right, I think someone needs a bath.” She rolled up her sleeves and put her hands on her hips, giving Lucky a very stern face.

A snicker behind her made her spin to Pietro grinning and leaning on his crutches, watching them.

Evie smiled sweetly. “Wanna give me a hand?” she asked.

A few minutes later, mud washed into the bath as Evie held the showerhead above Lucky’s fur, her free hand massaging shampoo into the golden mane.

Pietro was sat on the closed toilet seat beside them, watching, with his crutches leaning against the doorframe. He’d been quiet since they managed to scrounge Lucky into the bath and left Clint huffing and cursing about the carpets downstairs.

”Your friend is nice,” Pietro mumbled eventually when Evie was doing her second wash of shampoo.

It took a moment for Evie to decide who he was talking about. ”Yeah, he’s sweet.” She nodded, answering the question distractedly as she tried not to slip on the laminate flooring. It was a little wet due to Lucky’s overeagerness to dry off earlier.

Pietro was quiet again for a few moments, then asked, ”Is he… more than your friend?”

”What?” Evie looked away from the dog to furrow her brow at the Maximoff. He didn’t repeat, but she registered his question. “No. No, hell no. Thomas is too old for me, plus we’d probably rip each other apart within the first week,” she chuckled softly before adjusting her kneeling position a little. “Why do you ask?”

Pietro shrugged. ”He seemed close to you.”

”He’s a good friend - the first I made at SHIELD other than Clint and Nat. But he’s not my boyfriend or anything. Maybe if I was a bit older.” Evie smiled as she remembered that night at his birthday party.

”How old are you?”

”Twenty-four right now. You’re about twenty-one, right?”

”Yes.” Pietro answered. Evelyn giggled. “What?” he asked, confused.

Evie grinned widely at him. ”You’re younger than me,” she said it as a tease.

Pietro huffed and looked away. ”It doesn’t matter.”

”Aw, you’re younger than meeeeee.” Evie reached out and poked his cheek, leaving a few small bubbles on his skin. She chuckled as he batted her hand away with a grunt. “This is weird. I’m the oldest for once. Sweet.”

”Why does it matter?” Pietro questioned, his tone more than a little bitey with grit teeth.

”Hey, don’t get snappy at me. We already have one dog in the family.” Evie replied.

Pietro blinked, then his face scrunched into a scowl as he stood up, towering over her. Then his legs wobbled.

“Watch out!”

Evie wasn’t quick enough to do much as he slipped into the bath with a splash, Lucky yipping happily at his new bath-mate and licking his cheek to show appreciation of the new friend. Pietro spluttered and pushed Lucky away, spitting out into the bath before grumbling and looking at Evelyn with what could only be described as a very grumpy pout.

Evie tried her best to hold back a giggle, having to take a few tries before finally getting her next sentence out. “You’re looking a bit… washed out,” she said and pressed her lips together with a stifled snort.

”I hate you,” Pietro told her, grumpily, water soaking through his jeans and up to his belly button.

Evie giggled before she could stop herself, ”Aw.”

The boy grunted again, shifting around in the bath as Evie turned off the water and put away the showerhead. He wiggled around before pausing, sighing, and looking up at the brunette. ”Um… Evelyn?” he asked, quietly, barely above a whisper.

”Yeah?”

”…I can’t get up.” he admitted.

Evie smiled, rolling her sleeves up a little more from where they were slipping down. ”Need a hand?” she asked and he nodded. She held out a hand. “Come here.”

Pietro took her hand with a thanks, and the next thing she knew, Lucky had two new bath-mates and Evie was spitting out suds same as he had done.

Pietro, obviously, found it hilarious and actually started snickering at her.

“Oh, you prick,” she grumbled at him, shoving Lucky away to the other side of the bath to make room for the two humans joining him. She continued mumbling bitter noises to herself, sitting herself up properly with her back against the bath side and her legs over the other, the same at Pietro, and looked at him.

It took maybe three seconds of staring at the boy doing a shitty job of holding back his smug smirk for the two to burst into laughter together, their giggles echoing through the bathroom and out of the door. Evie groaned, running her wet hands over her face before nudging Pietro, and Pietro responded in kind with a small splash. It probably would have turned into a full on splash-fight had heavy footsteps not come thumping up the stairs and Mother Hawk come bursting through the door.

  
”What’s going on up…” Clint stopped when he noticed the girl and boy in the bath with the dog, Lucky barking with his tail swishing in the draining suds. “…here?” he finished, ready-to-fight body language relaxing into his natural posture and his face falling. Just for a second, however, because the smug smirk that had previously been on Pietro’s face had now slid onto Clint’s, folding his arms and leaning on the doorframe with bright eyes. “Oh, would you look at that? Three clean pups for the price of one.” he grinned and laughed.

Evie looked at Pietro who looked moderately embarrassed and like he wanted to be anywhere else, and she gave him a quick wink before she reached past him to grab something.

Clint’s laughter was cut short by a purposefully freezing cold blast from the showerhead straight to the face, nearly falling on his ass in his hasty retreat out of the bathroom, coughing and spluttering.

Evie and Pietro picked up their laughter again, and Lucky jumped out of the bath, scampering after his master, and by the shouting sounds that came a second later, Lucky didn’t need a towel dry anymore.

As their giggles slowly began to taper off, Pietro and Evie looked at each other, breathing in pants. They were… much closer than Evie remembered them being a moment ago, so much she could smell the sorbet on Pietro’s breath from here. Evie also realised was staring into his electric blue eyes again, partially covered by his growing hair, as the smile slowly disappeared from her face. She swallowed.

Pietro was doing the same to her, except his eyes were running all over her face before coming back to her forest green eyes, smile gone and leaving an unclear expression in its wake.

The clattering sound of the showerhead hitting the porcelain of the bathtub was a rude awakening for both of them, jolting at the sound before recognising there was no danger. Evie coughed, putting the showerhead away without looking at the ex-speedster it caused her to lean even closer to, before pulling back and nodding.

”Come on. Let’s get out before we both end up smelling like wet dog. I’ve already showered today,” she said and pulled herself out of the bath, from the tops of her thighs to her bellybutton soaked in bathwater. It was not a flattering image.

When she looked back to Pietro because he had yet to try and get out, she remembered the whole reason she’d been in there in the first place and grabbed his hands, pulling him out without falling back on her own ass and sitting him on the toilet lid, handing over his crutches without a word and leaving the bathroom in the same manner to go get changed.


	31. Hair

**July 27th**  
It was a long morning talking to Tony and tinkering with Pietro #2 before Evie proposed her theory to the archer.  
  
“Clint, has your diet changed since you stopped working for SHIELD?” she asked once he walked back into the kitchen again, putting the screwdriver down beside the dissected Roomba.  
  
Clint furrowed his brow as he thought on it. He hummed, ”A little. I don’t need as big portions or to eat as frequently. What we eat at dinner, however, is what I normally eat, just less. I did the same for you too, didn’t you notice?”  
  
Evelyn shook her head. ”No, you know what I’m like with food, I’m either just eating because you are or you or Nat have to remind me when its a time when you’re not cooking.”  
  
Clint nodded, walking to the island counter to fill up his coffee mug. ”What’s up?” he asked, flicking the kettle on.  
  
Evie perched on the end of the kitchen table, explaining, ”When we were at the lab in Seoul, Pietro almost always had food in his hand, mostly sweets, and he looked much healthier than he does eating real food like us which was weird. So, I asked Bruce to send over his medical notes for Pietro, and yeah, he’s physically healthy like a normal human being should be, but according to his scans, it’s like his body is missing something and doesn’t know what it is. So, I had this theory…”  
  
  
When Clint called the twins in for lunch, everyone sat in their designated places at the table and Clint settled their plates down in front of each of his adopted children, Pietro being the last, and settled an abnormally large portion of the same food than the others before him.  
  
”Why is there so much for me?” the Maximoff was understandably confused at the sudden change, as was his sister once she noticed the strangeness.  
  
”Its an experiment.” Evie explained as Clint took his own seat, he, Evelyn, and Wanda all the same usual sized plates. Pietro didn’t look convinced, he looked concerned if anything, and Evie reached across the table to his hand, squeezing his wrist gently and meeting his eyes. “Trust me,” she pleaded. After a moment’s hesitation and staring back at her trying to figure out if this was some kind of game, gave an agreeing nod and picked up his fork. Evie took her hand back, warning him, “Don’t try to force it down, though. Eat as much as you need.”  
  
Pietro nodded again, sticking his fork into the food. ”Right. I trust you,” he said softly, soft enough only she could hear, and Evie smiled proudly to herself at the small admission.  
  
The week continued like that, Pietro at every meal (even, begrudgingly Clint grunted, dessert) would get larger portions than the others. Pietro finished them all as if there was no change at all, regardless of how weird this seemed to be, and at first, it didn’t seem as if anything was changing at all. Not even the medical check-up showed anything different. But slowly, Pietro seemed to be standing a little straighter, his face wasn’t as pale, his electric eyes seemed to gain a little more life in them. And finally, halfway through the fourth week of the new routine, after Pietro hobbled his way down the stairs following a shower, Evie noticed it.  
  
”Your hair,” she declared. The Sokovian furrowed his brow as she gestured to his head. “It’s turning silver again,” she explained.  
  
Pietro looked even more confused, and Evie took a photo. Turning the picture around for him, his hair was in an odd ombre from the ends (freshly cut curtesy of Natasha) being silver, fading into brunet as it grew closer to his head, and then able to make out the roots just beginning to grow out silver again.  
  
”Oh. I didn’t notice,” Pietro mumbled, a hand running through his own hair absentmindedly.  
  
Evie nodded and put the phone away. ”Okay, so my theory over the last couple of weeks has been that your body isn’t getting enough nutrients like it was before you… yeah. So, we increased your portions at mealtimes as an experiment, and you actually look a lot better for it.”  
  
”I feel better,” Pietro confirmed with a smile.  
  
”That’s good. You’ve also been doing a lot better and holding yourself up for longer on the bars when we’re doing physio, though that might just be the exercise. Regardless, it seems your hair is an indicator, or at least a reflection that you’re progressing,” Evie said proudly.  
  
Pietro stood quiet and contemplating for a few moments. Then he asked, ”If I am progressing, do you think… my powers can come back?”  
  
In all honesty, Evie wasn’t sure. She’d been starting to lean towards “no” these past couple of weeks but Evelyn had been an optimist even in worse times. ”Anything’s possible, right?” she said instead. “Until then, we’ll stick with this diet and see if there are any other changes.”  
  
Pietro didn’t seem entirely satisfied with the answer, but he didn’t say anything else about it, nodding, and heading to the sofa to sit down.  
  
“P,” Evie called and he turned to look at her. She chewed on her lip. “If your abilities don’t come back, it’s not the end of the world, alright?” Pietro’s eyes drifted down to the floor, his shoulders slumping. She reached out a hand, patting his shoulder gently and giving a single squeeze, and when that had become a signal between them she wasn’t sure, but it seemed like the most reassuring gesture they could both recognise now. “You’re here, your sister is here, we’re all here with you,” she promised.  
  
Pietro gave a smile, a small one but it was there. ”Thank you,” he replied, and sat down on the couch, Evie joining him a few moments later and sticking on some random action film they both ended up falling asleep halfway through.  
  
  
  
”It’s incredible. Increasing your meal portions reawakened your increased metabolism and improved your overall physical health,” Bruce marvelled over the scans on his screens, the blood sample and DNA scans up onscreen highlighted in bright colours.  
  
”And what does that mean?” Pietro asked.  
  
”Your body burns through calories at a much higher rate than a normal human. You need bigger meals to be fully functional. It also means you should have an accelerated healing factor.” Bruce replied, turning to him. The doctor looked to have an idea, then pause before he could announce it.  
  
”What is it, Bruce?” Evie asked.  
  
”May I test your healing factor?” he asked Pietro.  
  
”How?” the Maximoff asked.  
  
Bruce retreated back to the medical tray and picked up a long sharp scalpel he’d never used before now, turning back to the boy.  
  
Pietro’s face whitened. “No.” He immediately tried pushing himself further back into the chair he was sat in, body going into sudden panic at the apparent danger he was reminded of.  
  
”Easy, easy. I just wanted to-”  
  
”_No_,” Pietro snapped like a frightened animal.  
  
Evie waved a hand hastily in front of her throat towards the doctor, shaking her head, and Bruce put the scalpel back down quickly, holding his hands up pacifyingly. When Pietro didn’t calm down, Evie snapped her fingers in front of his face to get him to look her way. ”Hey, it’s okay. He’s not going to do anything to you. Not while I’m here,” she attempted to calm him down with her words, staring into his eyes to keep his gaze on her.  
  
Pietro stopped squirming in his seat, eyes flicking between her and Bruce almost as quick as he used to be able to move, frozen on the spot and appearing ready to bolt, screwed legs be damned.  
  
”Your legs could be fixed quicker than we thought,” Tony jumped in to try and diffuse the panic. Pietro perked up at the information. “So long as you keep your physio up, they should settle back into place fine. You’ll be able to walk without the support of the crutches soon,” Tony continued calmingly.  
  
Pietro let out a long breath, sliding back into a more comfortable position in his chair, still pressed against the back of it with his body language stiff. He didn’t look like he was going to run anymore, but his eyes flicked back to the doctor every so often as the conversation continued.  
  
”By the way, Evelyn, Steve dumped his bike here and it’s a bit of a wreck. You busy?” Tony asked, rolling away from his desk.  
  
Evie groaned a long noise at the ceiling before looking back to Stark. ”Send it on to the farm. I need a new thinking project anyway.” she agreed, folding her arms. “And you can tell Steve that he can be a self-sacrificing idiot all he wants but that doesn’t mean his bike has to be too. I’m gonna start billing him, one of these days.”  
  
  
The bike arrived the next day and Evie wheeled it into the garage, sticking on some old sweats and tying her hair back ready to see the carnage that Steve had left it in this time. Honestly, it was better than some states she’d seen it in, but fuck, Steve, have you just decided to replace your shield with this? Only one of those things is vibranium, you know.  
  
She’d been on her knees at work for about thirty minutes before the footsteps and metal ticking of crutches approached and a shadow was cast on her work.  
  
”Hey,” she greeted Pietro standing in the doorway. She looked around him, not seeing the younger of the twins. “Wanda not with you?”  
  
”She has gone to meet Vision in the town.” Pietro explained, wandering further in.  
  
”Ah.” Evie nodded, wiping her greasy hands with a rag. “You okay?”  
  
”Yes. I just wanted to see what you were doing,” he answered, head tilting to get a better look at the bike.  
  
”Fixing Steve’s motorcycle. Again. For like the fiftieth time since I met him,” Evie grumbled almost bitterly, then chuckled. “Don’t get me wrong, though, I love it. I am a mechanic for a reason.”  
  
Pietro nodded, shifting around a little on his feet. The poor boy couldn’t even stand still for long without his powers, feeling that jittery energy he always did whenever he wasn’t doing anything. Some days it was worse. This seemed like one of those days.  
  
“You don’t have to stay, you know.” Evie appreciated the company, but Pietro didn’t look like he could stay in one place today.  
  
”I-I would like to watch,” he responded regardless.  
  
”It’ll be boring,” she warned him softly. Her answer came in the way of Pietro moving towards the hay bales stacked by the bike and seating himself a few feet from her, holding his crutches between his legs, dangling off the edge of the bale he perched on. Evie chuckled and shook her head, wiping her brow and smearing an oil stain already there across her forehead. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” she told him before turning her attention back to her work.  
  
  
Credit where credit is due, Pietro managed to stay pretty still while she worked. Because he had something to focus on, watching Evie get deep into her working headspace similar to that when she was working on the Cradle for Ultron, but this time she seemed happy to be in that mindset. Sometimes she would stand, her knees aching from kneeling unsupported for so long, and head to another part of the garage to pick up a tool she didn’t foresee needing or to replace a part of the motorcycle with a fresh piece, soon returning and snapping right back into her work.  
  
It was almost hypnotic for the young Sokovian watching her work, the number of oil stains and dirt marks covering her arms and face increasing the longer she worked. Every time he saw a new one, he felt like he should tell her or try to wipe it away himself but he didn’t dare disturb her, afraid of cracking the atmosphere between them.  
  
Only when she slumped against the vehicle did he really notice she’d slowed down in her pace, or that she could barely keep her eyes open.  
  
He felt his concern kick in immediately. ”Is everything okay?” he asked, leaning forward to try and see her face better.  
  
”Just tired. Need to rest my eyes a second.” She rested her head on the newly replaced leather seat, hands holding onto the metalwork. She shook her head against it, mumbling to herself, “I gonna end up needing a back brace or something, I swear.”  
  
Pietro smirked and snorted. ”You sound like Barton.”  
  
”You callin’ me old, Pietro?” She pulled her head off the bike to level him with a look.  
  
He shrugged. ”You’re older than me.”  
  
Evie sat up a little straighter on her knees with a smug grin. ”Does that intimidate you?” she asked jokingly, throwing her shoulders back confidently.  
  
Pietro paused for a moment, looking into her eyes while he thought on it. ”You… are intimidating,” he decided on. His comment caused Evie to pause, _what could be so intimidating about **her**_, but the thought was completely knocked out of her head when he added, "And unlike the old man, you're also cool."  
  
Evie tilted her head, her grin growing again. "Clint!” She called out of the door of the garage as loud as she could without straining her vocal cords. She heard him call back _“yeah?”_ and it sounded close enough she could figure he was in the garden. “Did you hear? I'm cool!" she shouted.  
  
"No, you're not!" he replied.  
  
"Pietro said I was cool!"  
  
"Then you're definitely not!"  
  
"Screw you, old man!"  
  
"Watch your tone, Little Miss!" he yelled back at her and she pouted, both at the empty doorway and then to Pietro, sat grinning like a child as he listened along. “And tell that brat to get back in here and do the dishes! He can have as much sorbet as he wants as long as he washes his damn dishes afterwards!” he added on, Pietro quickly losing his smile as he was called out.  
  
Evie turned a raised eyebrow on him. ”Really?”  
  
”I wanted to see what you were doing and I… forgot?” he answered with a shrug.  
  
She rolled her eyes. ”Brat.”  
  
”I am not.” He crossed his arms.  
  
”Then go back in there and wash that dish before Clint comes and finds you hiding here with me.”  
  
”I’m not hiding. I like being with you,” he said.  
  
Evie let out a startled noise and pointed to the doorway with a stern look to cover it. ”Go.”  
  
Pietro stuck out his tongue (totally not like a brat) and grabbed his crutches, stumbling out of the garage and back towards the house to presumably either clean his dishes or hide from Clint.  
  
Evelyn shook her head again, playing with the cloth in her hand before looking back at the bike in front of her and getting back to work.  
  
”_I like being with you.”_ That comment and a small smile lingered with her for the rest of the afternoon.


	32. Frosting

“So, what do you want for your birthday?”  
  
”Have I ever told you just how much I hate that question?”  
  
”Never heard it.”  
  
”You sure? Because I’m pretty sure I’ve told you every year since we met.”  
  
”What do you not like about birthdays?” Pietro paused in his shuffling along the parallel bars as Clint and Evie talked, awkwardly shifting his weight between his arms and legs as he tried to find the tipping point.  
  
”They’re just… not my thing.” Evie answered, and then a moment later a widespread grin appeared on her face, causing Pietro’s eyes to narrow and ask about it. ”This means I’m gonna be even older than you. And even more intimidating,” she replied smugly.  
  
Clint gave Pietro a strange look, knowing he was missing an inside joke somewhere, but Pietro refused to even spare him a glance and instead just glared in warning at the young mechanic threatening his already fragile ego.  
  
Evie had mercy, for once. ”And I just haven’t ever really liked them. I don’t like big celebrations or getting materialistic gifts or drinking myself into a stupor. Clint’s got that last role covered anyway.”  
  
”Hey. I’m not that bad.”  
  
”I have an overwhelming backlog of evidence that says otherwise. Would you like me to give Pietro more ammunition for his teasing or shall we leave the screaming at a chicken story untold?”  
  
Definitely not mentioning how she’d already told Wanda that specific piece of information prior to now because what Clint didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him, or at least it wouldn’t hurt him physically, his pride was another story.  
  
”I would like to know about the chicken,” Pietro said, grip shifting to both hands on the bar closest to the pair.  
  
”Another rep. Come on,” Clint grumbled back at the boy.  
  
”Only if you tell me about the chicken.” Pietro smiled sweetly.  
  
”Don’t get cocky.”  
  
”I’m not moving until you tell me.”  
  
”In that case, we’re done for the day.”  
  
”Oh come on, old man,” Pietro complained as Clint began walking away with most of his pride intact.  
  
”No, I think we’ve done enough for one day. Don’t wanna overwork you,” Clint replied, picking up the kettle to fill it.  
  
”But I’m close. I am,” Pietro declared, hands curling assuredly around the bar. Then his body slumped ever so slightly and he looked at Clint with his head inclined towards the floor. “I am, right?”  
  
Clint nodded and Pietro visibly relaxed. ”Very. But if you push now? You’re just setting yourself back at least a week each time,” he advised, pulling down the coffee and hot chocolate mixes.  
  
Evie patted his shoulder, comfortingly. ”Come on. Take a breather now and we can go out on the bike for a while,” she said with a soft smile.  
  
”Hey, why don’t we all go out for lunch?” Clint suggested as a bright distraction. “I heard someone had an inclination for Ginger Beer and I happened to pick up some on the way back from the Market yesterday. I can pack up some lunch and we can go up to the hill.”  
  
Evie looked at Pietro and he nodded back in agreement.  
  
”I’ll grab Wanda.” Evie moved out of the kitchen.  
  
”I’ll pack up food.” Clint went to find a basket.  
  
”And I’ll… sit down, I guess,” Pietro said to the empty room.  
  
  
Half an hour later (more like forty minutes for Clint and Wanda who had attempted slowly navigating the car up the narrow lanes of the hillside) the four had clambered up to the hilltop together and spread out a fresh picnic under the big tree, complete, of course, with the ginger beer.  
  
The weather was mercifully pleasant, not too hot and not too cold with barely any clouds in the sky. It meant that the ice cream didn’t melt too fast and everyone got their helping (double for Pietro). Of course, this also meant that all three of the kids were hyper an hour later and so began a game of tag between Evie and Wanda, running around in the grass and giggling when someone tripped over a tree root trying to evade the other. At some point, it just turned into tackling each other in the grass with Evie being the most careful considering her physical strength compared to Wanda’s own, but the young witch had been getting stronger now she was comfortable with using the barn alongside the others.  
  
”They’re sweet.” Clint said, lounging beside Pietro and watching the two trying to grab each other.  
  
”Hm.” Pietro tilted his head as he watched his sister, reminiscing about old times when he and Wanda were young and would chase each other on the streets laughing and giggling, and a trace of bitterness was soon tainting the memory because of his current predicament.  
  
”You’ll get there.” Clint seemed to know what he was thinking and helped to pull him out of the downward thoughts. “Just a little while longer. You’ll get there.” He patted Pietro’s shoulder and the boy looked at him.  
  
In the daylight, Pietro looked incredibly young and innocent. He did not look like the man who had signed up with his sister and an insane robot to try and kill him, or the same guy that had given his life to save Clint and Evelyn together. He was just a boy who had been treated unfairly by the world around him time and time again, who loved his sister, and who was struggling to get his grip back on his life again. Except this time, he had people around him to help.  
  
“In the meantime…” Clint shook off his thoughts and leaned closer to the elder Maximoff to whisper conspiratorily “…you can help me plan Evelyn’s birthday party” with a wink and a smirk.  
  
Pietro’s expression was first one of confusion, and then his eager grin nearly broke his face.  
  
  
Evelyn had stayed over at her own apartment that night. It had become a tradition for Evie to sleep at the apartments overnight before her birthday for many reasons, the main one being she was still paying for it and so should actually use it every once in a while. Also, it gave her the opportunity to sleep in and wake up relaxed before she visited her grandparents on the way to Clint’s. And, normally, after confirming she wasn’t dead-by-undercover-mission and being reminded she wasn’t allergic to phones she was sent on her way with birthday wishes and a wrapped present. This morning would be no different.  
  
Waking up without an alarm set on her phone, showering and dressing in one of her nicer combinations of her classic jeans and a shirt, she was midway through packing her backpack when rapid knocking on the front door interrupted her.  
  
She knew who it was before she opened it, and true to her intuition, she opened the door to a fawn haired girl giddily shoving a tray of brightly decorated homemade cupcakes into her hands.  
  
”Happy Birthday! For my favourite Avenger and babysitter,” Macy said with a smile as bright as the frosting swirling atop each of the twelve cupcakes.  
  
”I thought Black Widow was your favourite Avenger.” Evie raised an eyebrow with a smile.  
  
Macy scrunched her mouth, looking off to the side, caught, before looking back up with a shy smile. ”You’re joint first,” she said, whispering like it was a secret.  
  
Evie chuckled, not correcting her on the fact she was still a consultant and not an actual Avenger, and manoeuvred her grip on the recyclable tray to ruffle the girl’s hair. “I won’t tell,” she promised.  
  
  
  
Even if no one in the household possessed the gift of superspeed, the rate at which they worked to get the house set up was surprisingly efficient. Clint kept checking in with Evelyn and subtly trying to prod her for what time she would be over while the twins whizzed around the house helping set everything up.  
  
Wanda had retreated upstairs to wrap the gifts in her room, leaving her brother and the archer downstairs to finish the living room.  
  
Pietro was leaning against one of the bannisters they’d drilled into the living room wall, one hand on the bar and the other trickily pinning up a blue banner that streamed around the room.  
  
”She’s on her way,” Clint said as he came through from the kitchen, settling down Pietro #2 on the carpet and sliding the remote into his pocket.  
  
”Nearly done.” Pietro was attaching the last point to the wall when he made the mistake of taking his hand off the bar to try and untangle the knot he’d managed to get the string into. Moments later, he was flat on his ass with the banner still in his hand, and in a classic domino effect, the two men watched at the streamer came off the wall string by string until the entire thing came crashing down in a delicate fluttering of blue.  
  
“Sorry,” he muttered, looking down at the floor where he’d landed.  
  
Clint didn’t even seem to notice that part of the situation. ”What did I say about pushing yourself?” he asked with a much more fatherly tone than he’d care to admit he could reach, folding his arms and looking down at the boy sat sulkily a few feet away.  
  
”It was an accident,” he said grumpily.  
  
”You are a walking accident.” Clint tutted at him.  
  
Pietro ducked his head, the comment apparently hitting a little too close to something and not sounding as amusing to him as it had to Clint.  
  
The archer sighed and walked over, holing out a hand for the Maximoff to take.  
  
Pietro furrowed his brow at the outstretched hand like he hadn’t been in the same situation many-a-time when practising his physio, but Clint wasn’t given much time to read into that before his hand was glumly taken and he helped Pietro back to standing, grabbing his crutches and handing them over as the silver-haired male leaned on him for support.  
  
“Alright. I’ll hang this lot back up, you go check on your sister,” Clint told him, reaching down to pick up the end of the banner.  
  
Pietro felt that frustration of not being able to do such a simple task itch at him again, but he pushed it away at the thought of the presents they’d rounded up for Evelyn. ”Do you think she’ll like them?” he asked, hobbling his way away from the wall as Clint reached for the sellotape.  
  
”No doubt,” Clint replied, taping up this end of the banner. He glanced back over his shoulder and smiled. “Don’t look so worried. I helped you pick it out, remember? She prefers practical gifts over materialistic finery, anyway.”  
  
Pietro shuffled in place, not entirely persuaded.  
  
”Trust me. I know her,” Clint said finally, and went about hanging up the rest of the banner around the room.  
  
Pietro sucked in a long breath, letting it go along with his worries, giving a nod of his head before retreating to the stairs to call for his sister.  
  
  
Evelyn arrived mid-afternoon and there was a gentle breeze in the air. Parking the bike and wandering up to the house Evelyn was already preparing her “I told you I don’t like birthdays” speech for Clint in private for later.  
  
Lucky happily bounded over to her as soon as she passed the gate, wrestling for a moment with Evie over a pull-rope before she patted his head and he scampered on inside.  
  
Clint had been told she was supposed to go through the back door today, so, following the path to the patio, the girls entered the sunroom and walked past Pietro’s physio bars into the kitchen.  
  
”Happy birthday!”  
  
Evelyn nearly fell backwards and knocked herself unconscious on the parallel bars at the sudden onslaught of cheering as she walked into the kitchen. She narrowed her eyes, spying Pietro and Wanda stood happily by the counter with Clint stood beside them, grinning like a man with a secret he couldn’t wait to share.  
  
”Are you trying to give me a heart attack? Cause you succeeded.” Evelyn gave them a thumbs up and a sarcastic smile.  
  
The trio laughed, Clint reaching to the side to grab something as Evie strode further into the room muttering under her breath.  
  
Sitting on the counter was a cake, white fondant topped with familiar [symbols ](https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/198554627325981465/2EF27A63E9C29C8F39835BBA099E4D3F28944514/?imw=268&imh=268&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=true)from an old game and a few unlit candles, the number “25” sticking out in blue icing right in the centre. There were also a few cards sitting beside it in a pile all addressed to her in various coloured envelopes.  
  
Clint finally managed to get the lighter and light all the candles on the cake.  
  
Evie sighed, closing her eyes and making a show of thinking of something to wish for, it was all incredibly theatrical and mainly for the twins’ benefit, before opening her eyes and blowing them out. She received applause for it all.  
  
Opening the cards next she gave thanks when she opened Clint’s, then Wanda and Pietro’s (they signed a card together). Then there were all the others from her team, including one from Thomas and even one from Coulson. Evie didn’t ask how Clint acquired them and Clint did not think she needed to know.  
  
And finally came the gifts.  
  
Clint’s was a new quiver, similar design to the old one -brown leather with HARLEY stitched into the top- except with a few minor upgrades for the arrowheads inside designed by Tony.  
  
Wanda’s was a couple of lined notebooks with cute covers and a big box of pens because, and Evie had complained many times to Clint about this, her pens never stayed in one place. On the number of pens she’d lost this year alone working on her projects, Evelyn could honestly swear that the Borrowers lived in the house and they were for some reason obsessed with Biros.  
  
And Pietro, who had been standing nervously to the side impatiently waiting for her reaction to his gift, had gotten her a toolbelt. It occurred to Evelyn that she’d never actually owned a toolbelt before, or at least not one lent to her by SHIELD, she mainly just threw her tools wherever when she didn’t need them which usually led to her losing a lot of them whenever she was in the middle of a very delicate project and she’d had more than one shocking mishap before because of it.  
  
Pietro relaxed when he realised she liked it, and gave Clint a “yeah, yeah” when he mouthed “Told you so” at him with the smuggest smirk.  
  
There were a few little bits passed on by the rest of the team but they all seemed to blur as the four headed into the living room to watch a movie before dinner.  
  
The living room had been freshly redecorated with ribbons and balloons with giant 25’s printed on them in offensively bright paper, a silver and blue banner running around from wall to wall reminiscent of something you would expect at a toddler’s party. There were even ribbons wrapped around Pietro’s support bars and though that was kind of cute Evie couldn’t help the logical side of her mind telling her how impractical that was.  
  
On the floor, Pietro #2 was making itself useful by whirring around Macy’s cupcakes on its top, which at first had been a cute idea until Lucky stuck his nose in (figuratively and literally) and why now the cupcakes had been replaced and also the addition of a plastic cake tub cover on top had been made. It was probably best for the walls too since Clint’s didn’t fancy having to scratch off coloured frosting on his knees the next morning, he’d probably throw his back out and have to listen to his kids laugh about it for at least a week.  
  
Clint doesn’t know when he started thinking of them _all _as his kids, but the thought doesn’t bother him as much as he thought it should. Even the bratty ones had their moments.  
  
Dinner was soon served, and a dessert of birthday cake quickly followed, which on top of the cupcakes and the other sweet treats that had been set out probably wasn’t the best idea and left everyone feeling a little nauseous on the sofas for a while, meanwhile Lucky was having the time of his life chewing down on a large ham bone in the corner.  
  
After most of the sickness passed it was dark outside and Wanda was flicking through TV stations trying to find something that the group could decide upon. It ended up landing on a live recording of a circus show which seemed to spark everyone’s interest and settle the evening’s entertainment.  
  
”We’ve never been to a circus before,” Pietro mumbled at some point, curled up by his sister on the end of the sofa where he usually laid his head to sleep.  
  
”Me either,” Evelyn replied, watching as a contortionist flipped across the stage in a multitude of positions that really shouldn’t be considered human.  
  
”I can do that.” Clint was next to break the silence when another girl balanced on her hands and used her feet to fire a bow at a target across the room and landed a bullseye.  
  
”No way,” Pietro scoffed back, eyes glued to the screen.  
  
”I can.”  
  
”How do you know?”  
  
”I’ve tried.”  
  
”When?”  
  
”When I was younger.”  
  
”That’s ambiguous,” Evie said flatly, resting her cheek on her fist, curled up on the sofa arm.  
  
”Just trust me when I say I can,” Clint said, and the three kids looked at him in disbelief. “I could prove it.” He gestured out the door towards the barn.  
  
”I don’t want you to.” Evie shook her head. At his steadily growing smirk, she wagged a finger. “Respect my birthday wishes and do not try to show me that.”  
  
”Maybe you should join the circus, then,” Pietro teased, sticking out his tongue.  
  
”Oh that would be fun,” Evie declared, moving so she was lying with her head off the edge of the sofa seat and her legs over the back. ”Right off his porch in Ashforn, putting down the banjo and picking up the bow and arrow, the amazing Clinton Francis Barton!” She gestured her arms in a wide circle like his full name was some grand spectacle. “The Hawkeye!” She made jazz hands next with his name, causing herself to give an amused snort at her own actions.  
  
Clint fell quiet, his brain firing off memories too quick for him to handle at her words and an ugly shiver rolled down his spine. He suppressed it, eyes moving off the brunette still lying upside down and over to the TV with a swallow.  
  
”Yeah,” he mumbled, folding his arms over his chest as he watched another acrobat fly across the stage. “The Hawkeye.”


	33. Sugar

_Tin Can> I’m just saying it’s possible.  
  
Evelyn> And I’m just saying I won’t discuss this on an empty stomach.  
  
Tin Can> Get food then. Surely Barton has more than chicken feed at that place.  
  
Evelyn> I can’t be bothered moving, I’m too deep into a project anyway.  
  
Tin Can> You’re replying to me aren’t you?_  
  
Evelyn took her time fixing a cog back into place in the tractor engine.  
  
_Tin Can> Oh, very funny._  
  
Evelyn wiped off her hands and closed the engine lid, starting to give the tractor a scrub down with a clean cloth.  
  
_Tin Can> You see, this is why you are still considered the child on the team._  
  
”Evelyn!” Evie paused in her scrubbing to make sure she hadn’t accidentally accepted a facetime call from Stark. “Evelyn hurry!” Her brain identified the voice as not only Clint’s but from across the farm inside the house.  
  
Snapping into Agent Mode, she grabbed the nearest weapon and booked it out of the garage, over the fence, and into the house. Speeding through the empty living room she ran straight into the kitchen and to the sunroom.   
  
”What?!”   
  
It took a few seconds for the fact there was no threat or imminent dangerous thingy ready to mess up her day other than a screaming father figure to run through her head and make her drop the poised screwdriver to her side.  
  
It took an additional few seconds to notice Pietro was standing on two legs without any support.  
  
Evie blinked, rubbing her eyes with a mucky hand and blinking again. ”Pietro…”  
  
”I can stand.” He grinned, and then instantly wobbled, reaching one hand back to grab the parallel bar beside him.  
  
”Sort of,” Clint affirmed with a nod.  
  
Pietro beamed widely at her and the girl mirrored it.   
  
”Come here.” She slid the screwdriver into her new toolbelt and moved closer, taking one of his arms and slinging it over her shoulders so he was resting his weight on her and standing straight. “You’re standing,” she said like she could barely believe, looking down at his legs. ”Wanda!” she yelled into the house.  
  
”She’s out with Vision.”  
  
“Oh. Send her a picture.” Evie slid her phone out of her pocket and passed it over.  
  
Clint furrowed his brow at the already lit screen. ”What are you and Tony gossiping about this time?” he asked, switching to the camera.  
  
”Take the photo, Hawkeye.”   
  
Clint rolled his eyes and lined up the shot, the shutter click going off. He turned it back around and Evie picked it up, showing the image to Pietro, but the Sokovian noticed the unimpressed expression tugging at her features.  
  
”Problem?” he asked.  
  
“No, I’ve just remembered how much I hate my face in photos.” Evie chuckled self-consciously, shrugging, and slid her phone away with a promise to send it to the archer.  
  
”Why? You are beautiful.” Pietro inquired, brow furrowing.  
  
Evie spluttered at the bluntness of the comment. ”Bu- Wha- M- Shuddup.” Evie would have playfully shoved him had he not been leaning most of his weight into her. She helped him grab back onto the bars.  
  
His confusion quickly changed to smugness when he saw her flustering. His chest gave an odd flutter at the sight, and he felt his skin hum for the barest of moments.  
  
”You have engine oil on your face,” Clint pointed out, reaching for the rag on her belt to wipe it off.  
  
”Since when do I not while I’m working?” she asked, and then spluttered as Clint began wiping her face. “Clint! Clint, I’m not a child. I can do that myse- ew, it went in my mouth! Do you know where that thing has _been?!_ Come on!” She pushed back against him and had to use quite a bit of force before he let up and stepped back, hands raised in surrender. She huffed and crossed her arms.  
  
”You missed a bit,” Pietro said, bringing his sleeve-covered hand to wipe at her temple.  
  
Evie scrunched her eyes and mouth up and just let him scrub at her face until he was satisfied and stopped. “Thanks, P,” she grumbled and reopened her eyes.  
  
”Looks like you won’t be sleeping on the sofa for much longer,” Clint said, patting Pietro’s shoulder twice. “But only if you don’t push yourself. Don’t ruin it now.”  
  
Evelyn’s phone vibrated with an incoming message and she checked the screen._  
  
Tin Can> Had some cheese yet, Mouse?_  
  
”What’s up?” Clint asked at her scowl.  
  
”Tony’s trying to convince me that we should have an Avengers Halloween Party together this year, except this time it’s just the team. Not open to the public,” she explained. Silence followed. “Yeah, exactly, what the fuck?”  
  
”Isn’t he just going to throw a gala again?”  
  
”He said he can’t be bothered and it would be nice to get the team back together for a night.”  
  
”Last time that happened the world nearly ended.”  
  
Evie glanced at Pietro then looked down, guiltily. ”Yeah,” she mumbled quietly.  
  
Barton hadn’t really meant it like that and scratched the back of his neck. ”No thanks. I’m keeping you two out of trouble.” He narrowed his eyes and wagged a finger at each of his children respectively, trying to get them off the topic.   
  
Pietro and Evie chuckled softly.  
  
“Besides, Halloween here is awesome. If Ashforn is good for something in its otherwise miserable existence, its Halloween. Everyone gets into it.” Evie grinned with mischief in her eyes.  
  
”We haven’t celebrated Halloween in years,” Pietro informed them.  
  
Evie looked scandalised at this information, hand on her heart and mouth open like a fish. ”You should see it; parties, costumes, decorations, competitions. I went as myself last year, I was in full gear and everything with my bow and stuff, and you know what I got? Someone said I was _“Too tall”._” She folded her arms and nodded tightly. “That actually happened.”  
  
“Better than me. I got a “Hey, you know you look like a fat Hawkeye”, and it wasn’t even Halloween! I was just buying stuff at the market and this little punk comes up to me.” Clint threw his arms out, exasperated, and Pietro couldn’t hide the snort that left his mouth at the idea. The archer sighed, running his hands over his face and through his hair with a headshake. ”I’m gonna have three kids all high on sugar running around the house. I should buy locks for the cupboards and hide it all,” he mumbled to himself.  
  
”I get double.”  
  
”No, you do not.” Clint shut that idea down right then and there. “No,” he added when Pietro began to pout.  
  
  
Evelyn had learned from previous experience that Halloween was Clint’s favourite holiday of the year. Not even Christmas lived up to the archer’s love of the spooky season which Evelyn found ridiculous but decided maybe she was just biased. Things tended to get pretty competitive around the household when snowflakes began to fall.  
  
Snowball fights had been banned. No one else but Bruce knew why.  
  
So, when the outdoors grew chillier and the leaves began to sweep through the garden lawn she just kinda stepped back and let him do what he wanted. Clint stopped at nothing short of a kick to the head by Natasha Romanoff whenever he was set on something and Evelyn wasn’t sure she was ready to handle that responsibility just yet. It was hard enough keeping a straight face sitting at the table with him while he had a split lip from a lucky punch she’d landed in sparring.   
  
Plus, the twins seemed just as excited, if not more so, especially Wanda who utilised her powers to hang up fake spider webs around the living room which Pietro had fallen victim too once or twice. Watching everyone rush around the house setting up the decorations and singing (Clint was singing, the others were mumbling trying to keep up) along to “The Nightmare Before Christmas” soundtrack was arguably the most entertaining element of the holiday for her.   
  
Of course, then came the question of costumes.  
  
Normally, such a responsibility was handed over to Mr Barton which could be both the best and worst part of the night. She wouldn’t be surprised to find out if Clint had been some form of a fashion designer at some point considering all the other random things he’d apparently had to learn for missions and implemented on costumes for them. This year, however, he was stumped. The twins weren’t sure whether they wanted to dress up and Evie didn’t like any of the suggestions Clint had this year.   
  
They’d argued over Batman and Robin for at least twenty minutes.  
_  
”Come on, it’ll be fun. And you’re already kind of the Robin to my Batman anyway.”  
  
”Why can’t I be Batman? I design all the cool shit we use, remember?”  
  
”I brought you into this business and raised you as an agent. I’m the Batdad here. Plus, the early Robin’s an athletic acrobat, kinda like you.”  
  
”Okay, Robin **wishes **he was me.”_  
  
But, when Pietro and Wanda’s newly designed outfits by Stark arrived at the door two days before the 31st, Evelyn and Clint had looked at the outfits, looked at each other, and then swiftly hidden them away before the twins could see what they were grinning at.  
  
Halloween morning the kids were woken up to Batdad trying to audition for The Voice with his favourite number “This Is Halloween”. Pietro caught the worst of it, still sleeping on the sofa at night even with the plans to get him into his own room upstairs now he could stand up a few seconds at a time without support. But, the trio managed to get out of bed if only to shut the archer up for five more minutes and were greeted by a heavenly smell and the sight of Clint narrowly avoiding sticking breakfast to the ceiling.  
  
Lucky, in all his costumed glory, came scampering down the stairs as soon as he heard everyone downstairs getting breakfast and barked as he strolled in proudly with a happy pant.  
  
”Please tell me that’s what I think it is,” Evie giggled as Lucky wagged his tail, oblivious to any joke his owner was using him for.  
  
”Yep.” Clint crouched down to give scratches to the canine, an eyepatch covering his scarred eye and a plain black vest with the SHIELD logo pinned to the chest. “Good morning, Director,” Clint greeted.  
  
Lucky yipped happily in response, licking his face.  
  
”I’m sending that to Thomas, he needs to see it,” Evie declared, slipping out her phone and sending him a picture of the two with the caption _“Say ***Woof*** again” _underlining it.  
  
A few minutes after sitting at the table with a plate full of pancakes shaped like pumpkins with faces carved out, she received the image response of a ginger tabby kitten with a little silver pot on its head and a red washcloth covering its back with the caption _“The God of Thundpurr sends his regards”_.  
  
Looking up at movement in her peripherals, Pietro had picked up the syrup and was pouring vast amounts of the sticky stuff on top of his own pancakes.  
  
”Would you like some pancakes with your syrup, P?” Since giving the ex-speedster larger portions for his metabolism, it had become the dinner table joke for how much sugar the boy could consume.  
  
Pietro ducked his head at her comment as usual but Evie noticed the tips of his ears turning pink beneath his -almost completely now- silver hair.   
  
Huh. Never had that before.  
  
Breakfast was cleared away as soon as it appeared and by lunch, there were only a few additional touches left to be made to the decorations. When they were finished, the downstairs house was covered in orange and black pumpkin cutout bunting, the windows and stairs shrouded in fake cobwebs, and while Clint and Evelyn reintroduced the twins to the tradition of carving pumpkins, Pietro #2 was whirring about with a black stuffed cat attached with duct tape on top. Lucky had been very happy about it, now having a new friend to play with whenever it wasn’t banging its head into a wall at fifty miles an hour.  
  
They’d sent Evelyn out for pumpkin spice lattes at some point and Pietro decided it would be funny to throw a handful of fake spiders at her when she returned. No surprise the mechanic didn’t find it as funny as the Sokovians and archer did, and while putting down the -thankfully unspilled- lattes on the table calmly announced everyone in the room had exactly three seconds to run or face murder. Clint and Wanda bolted, having basic common sense, and Pietro managed about three steps on his own before falling flat on his face and becoming victim to many angry hits from a couch cushion.   
  
Pietro found out that afternoon Evelyn never skipped arm day.  
  
When it got to 4pm, Clint and Evelyn decided it was time to give Pietro and Wanda their costumes. They said nothing as they handed over the bundles and told the twins to get changed before they themselves dressed in their uniforms and grabbed their gear before waiting on the couch.   
  
Wanda emerged from upstairs in her red leather garb first, moving her arms around and testing the range of motion in the sleeves of the long coat and wiggling her fingers in the gloves. The long coat was reminiscent of Fury’s, all long and mysterious and definitely cool when a breeze passed her way, no pun intended. The boots were of a similar style to Evelyn’s, keeping her powers and general style in mind.  
  
”Pass the test?” Clint asked.  
  
”I see the theme,” she replied, red sparks flickering at her fingers almost the same shade as her outfit.  
  
Pietro wasn’t long behind, awkwardly shuffling down the stairs before reaching the bottom and looking at himself. His wasn’t nearly as extravagant as Wanda’s, Tony keeping in mind the idea of his powers’ possible return, and creating a material that could withstand his movements for longer than usual athleticwear. But, the silver and blue themes were there, as well as some small lightning designs running up the sides of both the shirt and pants. The sneakers were new too, again made with his endurance in mind to avoid heating up or wearing out too quickly.  
  
Or at least that’s what the text Evelyn received about an hour after they’d been delivered explained.  
  
”Good?” Evie asked.  
  
”Feels like I’m wearing nothing,” he said, which could have been taken either way but Evie decided to take it as good.  
  
Clint clapped and stood up, picking up his bow from the table and handing Pietro his crutches. ”Right, if everyone is ready, let’s go.”  
  
  
They were right, Ashforn really did go all out on the spooky season.   
  
As soon as it began to grow dark, it was a completely different town. Decorations plastered the walls and buildings, the local park was alive with lights and ribbons, jack-o-lanterns in neighbouring gardens were alight, trick or treaters scurrying around with teeth-rotting amounts of sweets, eerie music was blasted through the streets from one place or another, and stalls where the weekly market was normally located were set up with Halloween themed games and treats and tricks all together in frightful fun.  
  
Evelyn signed herself up for a bean bag tossing competition and, thanks to years of training under Clint Barton, she won, and was given a stuffed toy as a prize that she gave to the second-place winner.  
  
Wanda was surprisingly good at apple bobbing and won herself a couple of keychains which were pretty much useless until Clint cut the twins their own keys for the house.  
  
Clint even had a go at a “Pin The Tail On The Donkey” game (meant for under 10-year-olds but whatever, he was a rebel) and got it straight on the bullseye which Pietro said quite loudly was bullshit and a nearby mother gasped so loud her fake fangs nearly came out, covering her child’s ears who honestly looked way too interested stuffing his face with candy corn that he probably hadn’t heard him in the first place.  
  
They paused for food, purchasing slices of pizza with “scary” faces made out of the toppings on top and stocking up on free candy being passed out for guests. The two Sokovians seemed to be having a blast and Clint and Evelyn had to keep rounding the both of them up when they ran off ahead of them. Clint had joked about getting harnesses and leads like he’d seen some toddlers wearing before, and Evie had elbowed him in the side while stealing a bite of his pizza.  
  
After some convincing, the other three managed to get Pietro into a variant of whac-a-mole but instead of moles there were twenty-five lights on a board he had to hit whenever they lit up, and while he wasn’t moving at super-speed he was still damn fast to hit the buttons, his enhanced processing speed still apparently intact, and he got away with two more bagfuls of sour candy which he couldn’t have looked prouder of.  
  
When most of the trick or treaters began turning in for the night and it was mainly older teens and above still roaming the streets, the group decided to make their last rounds of the stalls and head back home. Of course, then they were stopped by a few market stall owners who now not dealing with the younger rabble had time to recognise the faces of at least two of the Avengers wandering around in costume. There were autographs given and photos taken before they managed to slip away and back towards home, which of course had sparked off some random little argument when Pietro had mumbled about the archer being narcissistic when seen fixing his hair pre-photo.  
  
”You’re just pouty no one recognised you,” Clint replied like an adult as they wandered down the drive.  
  
”That is not it,” Pietro grumbled as Clint unlocked the door and let them inside. “You would look stupid with or without your hair fixed. That outfit is ridiculous.”  
  
”Look, don’t get jealous just because our uniforms are better than yours.”  
  
”Are not.”  
  
”Are too.”  
  
”Are not.”  
  
”Are too.”  
  
”I think Wanda’s is pretty cool,” Evelyn interrupted, sitting down on the sofa. When all eyes were on her, she shrugged. “You know? You got the reds and its all themed and when we were outside the coat was billowing and she looked- _still looks_ like a badass. Me? I look like I stepped out of the hunger games, all I’m missing is the braided hair.”  
  
Wanda sat in the armchair. ”I think yours is more functional. You can move your arms freely and it has more protection against exterior damage,” she responded.  
  
”Yeah, but it’s boring. And pretty similar to Clint’s so it kinda feels like a copy,” Evelyn shrugged and reached for a bottle of beer from the pack they’d left out on the table for the late evening.  
  
”I want to try it on,” Wanda suddenly declared.  
  
Evie nearly choked on her drink, bringing it away from her lips just in time. ”Seriously?” she asked.  
  
”Yes. I would like to try your uniform on, and if you want to, you can wear mine,” she offered back with a mild shrug.  
  
”So… costume swap?” she asked, then glancing to the boys who hadn’t moved since the comment about Wanda’s own costume. Evie hummed, then shrugged and put down her beer bottle with a smile, sitting back. “I’m down for that.”  
  
  
Ten minutes later after Pietro and Clint had settled onto the sofa and the girls disappeared upstairs, they turned their heads at the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs to see the two brunettes standing in each other’s outfits.  
  
”So, what do you think? We pull it off?” Evelyn asked.  
  
Standing side by side in each others’ costumes highlighted the few differences the girls had between one another.   
  
Evelyn’s shoulders were a little broader than Wanda’s, but the girls otherwise had the same hips and waist. The older of the two also had hair a shade lighter than Wanda’s, and her eyes were green rather than blue. They were the same height, though Evelyn had a wider stance than Wanda, but perhaps that was just the way the unfamiliar boots were making her stand.  
  
They fit each other’s costumes well considering their similar body types and if anyone had not known they weren’t wearing their own stuff, they would have assumed those were the correct outfits.  
  
”That’s… actually not bad.” Clint said as he looked them both up and down.   
  
”You both look pretty good,” Pietro said, feeling slightly strange seeing them swapped.  
  
”Do I look like a badass yet?” Evelyn asked, and then her eyes lit up as she got an idea. “Oh, wait, wait, let me do the pose.” She made dramatic sweeping motions of her arms, mimicking Wanda’s movements when controlling her power, although they were much less smooth and boxier than the Sokovian’s, and she herself seemed to notice, standing straight and asking, “Were you a dancer when you were younger? You look so cool and fluid when you’re fighting.”  
  
”And I look like an Avenger. Fear me!” Wanda hopped up a few stairs so she was standing taller than the others, hands curled into fists on her waist to strike her own dramatic pose and nearly hitting herself in the face with the bow when throwing her head back. Clearly the sugary candy was starting to kick in.  
  
The boys looked at each other, and with the smile slowly making itself known on Clint’s lips, Pietro knew exactly what the other was thinking. At first, he shook his head, but looking back at the girls starting to giggle and gush over one another, to quote Evelyn when she was about to do something she would probably regret, he decided “fuck it”.  
  
  
When the boys emerged from the stairs, it was a much less graceful entrance than what the girls had made. And there was no giggling and grinning between them either.  
  
”How do we look? I know I got a rockin’ bod.” Clint cocked a hip dramatically, the skintight material showing off his body built of muscles from years of extensive training.  
  
Pietro, on the other hand, was pulling at the vest with one hand, mostly in the neck area. ”Why is your outfit so tight and yet so loose? It is not comfortable at all.” He swapped hands holding the bannister, starting to pull at the pants instead.  
  
Evie snorted a giggle over her beer. ”You look like an angry cupid.”  
  
”Hey! That’s my outfit, remember?”  
  
”I want to try it on!” Wanda, halfway through her own bottle, shouted giddily.  
  
Evie raised an eyebrow. ”You wanna swap with the boys?”  
  
”And you will wear Pietro’s outfit,” she declared with no room for argument.  
  
The boys did not look excited or happy about this decision, but Evelyn couldn’t deny the little puppy expression Wanda had begun to give her.   
  
She sighed and downed the rest of her beer before slamming it on the table. ”Not sure how well this will go but, hell, I’m here for the bad decisions tonight.”   
  
  
  
The reveal of this round of clothes-swap sans shoes because just no was not dramatic or uncomfortable but somewhere between silent and weird. Evie and Wanda were the first in the living room and the boys were soon following.  
  
”Wanda, I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to re-lace the corset next time you wear this. I am not that skinny,” Clint said, stepping into the room with Wanda’s red coat swishing behind him and the corset top looking perfect (if a bit wider than remembered) except for the cups up top.  
  
”You don’t look half bad.” Evelyn admitted, Pietro managing his way down the stairs behind him.  
  
”Thank you.” He smiled like he knew already.  
  
”Why does this fit me better than yours?” Pietro asked Clint, confused, as he came into the room.  
  
Evie answered, ”Because you have a runner’s physique, not as much muscle mass as Clint. Like me, you have a skinnier upper body so it makes sense you fit better in mine. Except for certain areas of the chest, obviously.” She coughed and glanced away at the last part.  
  
”The lightning on that top suits you,” Clint told her.  
  
“Yeah, it’s not as bad of a fit as I thought it might be considering its not a women’s top. The skintight-ness of this is actually kinda helpful, unlike Clint’s which looks like it’s hanging off you in most places,” she chuckled towards Wanda who kept having to pull the vest down whenever she shifted the wrong way.  
  
Pietro was looking at Evelyn and had been since he first saw her in his clothes. That thrumming in Pietro’s hands he’d felt before returned for the barest moment before it disappeared again, except now it felt like it was in his arms too. And his heart was beating faster. Why was it beating faster? And why was Evelyn’s outfit so warm on him?  
  
”You look good,” he managed to get out while distracting himself with a beer.  
  
Evelyn grinned proudly at the comment. ”Thank you.”  
  
There was a silence that hung in the air for a moment afterwards. It didn’t really hold anything in it, but Clint’s eyes were darting back and forth between Pietro and Evie before the moment ended and he decided it was late enough by now.   
  
”Right, if everyone is done swapping, I think the next change should be into pyjamas,” he announced in a fatherly tone.  
  
”But we’re not tired,” Wanda pouted, falling back into the armchair and wiggling when it pushed Clint’s vest up enough to show her stomach.  
  
Evie raised a hand. “Well, I know I’m going to bed. Sugar makes me sleepy.” She rubbed her face with that same hand, turning to the stairs. “Night guys. Don’t eat my candy,” she threw over her shoulder before skipping up the stairs to bed.  
  
Pietro watched her go before turning to Clint. ”She’s still wearing my clothes.” he said.  
  
”And you’re wearing hers,” Clint acknowledged.  
  
There was a beat where the two men were staring at each other, as if fully understanding the situation for the first time since stepping through the front door, before Pietro cleared his throat, hobbling past Clint and up the stairs to Evelyn’s room.  
  
He remembered to knock and walked in once he got a shout of permission. ”You still have my outfit on,” he explained, leaning on the wall since there was a distinct lack of bannisters in her room, interrupting Evelyn tying her hair back for bed.  
  
”Hm?” Evelyn looked down and then back up. “Sorry, forgot.”   
  
”It is fine- whoa…” Pietro looked away to the wall quickly when she just whipped his shirt off without warning.  
  
”Relax, P, I have a vest on. Unlike last time.” She put emphasis on the last part, folding his shirt and putting it on the bed.  
  
”I apologise again. I have a habit of moving before I think things through,” he said, still looking away, and while he was looking away Evelyn decided she might as well take the pants off too.  
  
”Funny, you’re sister said the same thing.” she replied.  
  
Pietro snorted. He could believe that. ”Yes, she’s hilarious.”  
  
Evie coughed once she’d slipped some sleep shorts on. ”Can I have my clothes back?” she asked.  
  
”Of course.” Pietro nodded, then hesitated. “Uh…”  
  
Evie chuckled, covering her eyes with both hands and turning away. ”I’m not looking. Promise.”  
  
Pietro gave a glance to the window not covered by a curtain but figured it was too late and too high up for anyone to see them. He quickly stripped off her outfit on shaky legs only to remember once he was stood there in boxers and socks that that was the only thing he was wearing while standing in her room. He grabbed his things from the bed, nearly toppling over, holding them to the top half of his body while awkwardly leaning on the wall for support, before holding out her own clothes. ”Here.”  
  
Evie turned around and refused to look down further than his shoulders, taking her uniform back with a professional nod. ”Thanks.”  
  
Pietro nodded, and the two were stood in silence again.  
  
Evie had never known her bedroom clock to be so loud in her life.  
  
”Well… goodnight.” Pietro nodded at her, walking backwards as to not expose more of himself than he needed.  
  
”Yeah, goodnight, P.” She nodded back, looking away as he stumbled off in the direction of the bathroom, presumably to get changed before going downstairs, and she shut the bedroom door, drawing the curtains and thanking whoever up there her window faced the garden and not the street instead.


	34. Blankets

Pietro could sometimes be thankful when opportunities to get off the farm grounds arose. Even without the constant electric thrumming under his skin, he itched for excuses to move and sate his energy. Usually, he found that escape in Wanda’s room or the gardens, sometimes even watching Evie fiddle with her latest project, but today, Tony’s lab would do well enough.  
  
They’d dragged in a treadmill from the downstairs training gym and fixed it up to monitors and screens around the lab to measure his walk. He might have even been impressed if Stark hadn’t been wearing his signature smug smirk like he’d invented the idea in the first place. But, with encouraging words from Evelyn and a light pat on the shoulder, he’d stepped on the belt and let them study him like a hamster on a wheel.  
  
He walked for ten minutes or so, the doctor and billionaire swapping murmurs and scribbling down notes. Pietro itched between the shoulders, trying to think of anything but Struckers lab. He glanced to Evie watching him, leaning back on the wall beside his chair with her arms folded over herself and head tilted with a gentle encouraging smile, and he was instantly relaxed. So relaxed he stumbled and immediately snapped back into reality with his hands on the support bars and three sets of concerned eyes staring at him while he was insisting he was okay.  
  
Ten minutes of studying and prodding later he was stepping off, an arm over Evie’s shoulders as she held the crutches he refused to pick up from her.  
  
“How often do you need to reach for support when moving around the house?” Bruce questioned as he ran the collected data on the screens in front of him.  
  
”Occasional.”  
  
”Pietro, you best not be pushing yourself at this stage,” Evie told him with an underlying edge of warning.  
  
”I’m not.”  
  
”Better not. If I catch you lying or straining yourself, my motorcycle will have no room for guests until you learn to tell the truth again.”  
  
Pietro almost laughed, instead opting for a smile and gentle nod of the head. ”I promise,” he said in earnest.  
  
Evie nodded back and looked to the doctor. ”That’s good enough for me.”  
  
Bruce nodded, scribbling on his clipboard.  
  
”And updates on the…” Tony gestured vaguely to Pietro with his pencil.  
  
”It is not happening,” Pietro responded calmly, and then “I don’t think it will,” at a much quieter volume.  
  
”You’ll still have your legs back. That’s good.” Evie tried to cheer him up.  
  
Bruce hummed in agreement. ”By my guess, you will be able to walk without any kind of support before the end of the year, and if luck extends its hand, you might even manage a jog with minimal tripping.”  
  
Pietro didn’t respond past a nod.  
  
”Thanks, Bruce,” Evie said, adjusting her stance as Pietro’s weight started to lean more heavily on her. “Going anywhere special for the holidays?” she asked.  
  
”Tony’s been advertising me to stay in one of his homes in the Himilayas,” Bruce informed them with a long-suffering expression.  
  
Tony rolled away from his desk in his chair. ”You laugh but I was completely serious. No more infested swamps, Bruce. If you want isolation, you should at least be safe,” he advised, pointing a desk toy previously bought for Bruce at him. “Or you could always just stay here and have fun with the rest of the team at the gala,” he offered.  
  
Evie raised an eyebrow. ”Do you ever stop throwing parties?”  
  
”Not if I can help it.” Tony smirked back, looking at the kids. “You guys are invited, of course.”  
  
”I do not think my sister and I would enjoy a Stark celebration,” Pietro answered with an unmissable bitterness.  
  
”Oh yes, lights, champagne, music, dancing, people having a good time. Such hardship.” Tony matched his tone.  
  
A beat.  
  
Evie forced a laugh. ”Okay, well, thanks for the check-up guys. Talk to you later.” And she sped the two of them out of the lab as quickly as she could manage.  
  
  
”He should be walking on his own before the end of the year,” Evie said as they rejoined Clint and Wanda, Evie handing back Pietro’s crutches for the walk to the elevator.  
  
”That’s great.” Clint gave him a thumbs up and Pietro smiled, slightly stiff. “It also means you’re not gonna be sleeping on the couch anymore. Speaking of, we should go shopping sometime to pick out things you want in it.”  
  
”I get to choose?” Pietro asked.  
  
Clint keeps the expression threatening to crawl onto his face strictly off it. Pietro may have been living in the house for a few months now but Clint remembered his early SHIELD days with Coulson and being shocked anyone would do a thing for him they didn’t have to. That shock had lasted almost a year, so he’d give the kid some credit.  
  
”Of course you do. We did the same for Evelyn and Wanda,” he said instead of an exasperated “duh, it’s _your _room genius” like he’d instinctively gone for and stopped.  
  
With that the last thing said, everyone clambered into the elevator and headed down to the garage.  
  
  
  
Pietro was restless that night. He usually wasn’t so jittery going to sleep, normally able to nap anywhere and everywhere looking like a dead person according to his sister, but something in the universe just wasn’t letting him have more than ten minutes before grumpily changing position again tonight.  
  
It had to be somewhere around two am, late enough the sign language person was stood in the corner of the TV because apparently dead people were insomniacs. Pietro would never have guessed looking at Clint. But this time when he turned, originally facing the back of the couch away from the TV, he twisted over and nearly bucked right off the sofa when he realised he was no longer alone.  
  
Squinting at the figure curled up in the armchair watching the TV, Pietro managed to calm down and not scream and wake the rest of the house up. ”Evelyn?” he croaked, voice cracking from lack of use.  
  
Evie turned away from the TV with a tired, guilty look. ”Did I wake you?” she asked quietly.  
  
Pietro shook his head, pushing himself up to sit properly, blanket bunching in his lap. ”Was not really asleep,” he replied. That seemed to satisfy the mechanic and she returned to watching the TV, slumped in the armchair looking half-awake. Pietro studied her with squinting eyes in the bright light from the TV. “Are you… okay?” he asked.  
  
She shrugged. ”Not as tired as I thought I was.” She looked at him. “You?”  
  
”Too much sugar,” he excused lamely, pulling his knees up to his chest and resting his arms on top.  
  
Evelyn nodded and they fell into silence for a few minutes.  
  
Pietro wondered if he should turn the volume up a little, or change the channel. What did Evie usually like to watch? She seemed to enjoy that circus performance they’d seen together. He wondered if they were replaying it at this time of night. Or something similar. It might be better than the cooking show he’d set as background noise.  
  
”I’m gonna get a drink. Want anything?”  
  
Pietro snapped out of his thoughts to see her halfway out of her seat and the question registering in his mind. He bit his lip. ”Hot chocolate?” he asked with puppy eyes.  
  
Evie raised an eyebrow, fighting a smile. ”Didn’t you say you’d had too much sugar?”  
  
”To sleep, yes. But I’m not trying to sleep anymore.” He smirked back.  
  
She shook her head, the smile breaking through. ”Good point. Hot chocolate coming up.”  
  
She returned less than five minutes later with two hot chocolates made her way in hand. She set his down on the coffee table and sat back in the armchair with her own, curling her legs underneath her to sit.  
  
Pietro held his mug, chewing his lip again. ”You can sit here,” he said, nodding to the other side of the sofa when she looked. “If you want,” he mumbled with a shrug.  
  
Evelyn considered it for a moment, and when Pietro thought she would just return to watching the documentary on mincing ravioli filling, the weight of the sofa shifted as she sat on the other end to him, legs curled up again.  
  
He shifted slightly, pulling the blanket further over to her side which she shared with a thanks. ”It gets cold a while after the fire burns out. Clint spends most of the summer chopping wood to feed it because winters here are frigid as fuck,” she told him, sipping from her mug.  
  
Pietro nodded. ”Snow?”  
  
”Probably not as much as Sokovia is used to but we get our share. You like the snow?”  
  
”Who doesn’t?”  
  
”Anyone who drives to work?”  
  
They shared a chuckle.  
  
The sound of the TV drifted back in as they fell quiet, curled up barely two metres apart to watch.  
  
”We used to love snow,” Pietro began quietly. Evie turned her head to him. “When our parents… it became a problem. Moving from place to place in the cold weather with not much to our names was not the most comfortable. Sokovia was not kind once government began to change. Wanda’s red blanket is from one cold winter a few years ago. It is stolen,” he revealed, setting the mug in his lap and looking down into the frothy remains of cream on top. “We had no choice.” His voice dropped to a broken whisper.  
  
Evie’s chest weighed heavy at the admission and the emotions ghosting through Pietro’s electric eyes now dulled by the light and the memories. She took one hand off her mug and slowly reached over, touching his and feeling it twitch.  
  
Pietro’s head snapped to her, but he didn’t protest or move away, so she gently let her fingers curl around his hand, and after a moment of staring at her with ice-cold eyes, his fingers slowly closed around her own hand.  
  
”Now you do,” she promised, giving a short squeeze to his palm.  
  
Pietro’s eyes flicked downwards to his mug, silent and thinking, and then he returned the squeeze, looking up again at her with the corner of his mouth curling up. This time he would believe her.  
  
  
Two weeks passed before they got around to fixing up Pietro’s room. There was a chill in the air as November steadily crawled on, no signs of snow just yet, just frost dusting the lawn every morning. Pietro was managing to walk for longer lengths of time without the support of his crutches or the bannisters around the house, getting up and down the stairs could still be a crapshoot but it was nowhere near the difficulty from when he first moved in.  
  
Everything like cupboards and drawers they already had since Pietro’s room was previously being used for storage so it really was a matter of personalisation. They wandered around the home depot and filled the cart with electric blue paint, electric blue bed sheets, electric blue cur- there was a lot of blue. Practically everything they bought was either blue, white, or silver. Other little things like posters from some bands he’d figured out he liked or a mini-fridge (Clint’s idea to help keep an eye on food requirements) were purchased as well. Evie put in extra blankets which she and Pietro shared a silent look after, and a fluffy rug that the Sokovian hadn’t been able to stop touching when he’d randomly reached out to the tester section.  
  
That out of the way and in the car, Clint drove next to a local mall, happily announcing their need to find outfits for the Avengers Christmas Gala. And was expectedly met with a groan of disapproval and eye roll from all three of his children.  
  
”Yeah, yeah, I know,” he’d muttered just as unhappily, having to practically drag all three out of the car and force them inside.  
  
Once inside, the boys split from the girls and agreed to meet at the main canteen in an hour, Clint leading Pietro towards a good suit shop that had served him in the past and Evie guiding Wanda towards somewhere with dresses.  
  
Her and Wanda entered the first store and walked to the women’s section, wandering around the aisles alone but keeping each other in sightline.  
  
”Well, my hate for shopping has not changed in the last seven years,” Evie muttered to herself as she scanned through the gowns and grimaced at some of the more flashy designs. But, she managed to pick out two options before she noticed Wanda seeming more concerned with how much they cost, nothing in her arms. “Stop looking at the tags, Wanda. You’re not on a budget. If you like something, pick it up and try it on. And do it quickly because I’m starting to sound like Clint and it’s concerning me.”  
  
Wanda showed her a smile, trying to heed her advice and eventually picking up a few options to try.  
  
They were silent as they entered the changing room, somehow the only ones there and picked two booths beside each other, sliding the curtains closed. Coming out in the first options, Evie helped Wanda figure out how to tie the glittery red multiway after using a few options from the internet, and Wanda decided it was too much work and went back to change. Evie checked her own dress in the mirror, black the only appropriate choice for all of her dresses, and hummed, going to change into the second.  
  
Pulling it off and sliding into the second, she realised the corset back needed lacing up and couldn’t reach around to do a decent job herself, and so just stood in the hallway waiting with her hands holding the front as it threatened to slip and give the attendant a flash she didn’t want or ask for. She found her mind wandering as she waited, tracking back to the last time she’d come here for a Stark sanctioned party and it had been bustling with mothers and daughters and groups of friends giggling and taking pictures of each other in glitzy dresses.  
  
”Reminds me of prom season,” she muttered aloud.  
  
”We did not go to prom,” Wanda responded, voice muffled by the curtain and shuffling fabric sounds.  
  
”Me neither,” Evie replied. “Honestly, prom was the last thing I ever wanted to do in high-school. I just wanted to get out of there and as far away as possible. Clint calls it a “lost experience”, I call it a “missed embarrassment”.”  
  
The curtain pulled back and Wanda emerged in a flowy gown of red, spinning on the spot and letting the tulle skirt swoosh around her. ”How do I look?” she asked, the skirt still partially moving when she stopped.  
  
”Stunning,” Evelyn replied easily with a smile, and Wanda smiled in turn. “Can you help do up the laces on this one?” She turned her back to the witch and not even a moment later the entire back suddenly cinched up in one go. Evie blinked as she registered what must have happened and looked over her shoulder at Wanda. “Did you just..?”  
  
Wanda shrugged casually, red light sparking at her fingers.  
  
Evie hummed. “Well, that’s one use for them.” She turned back to the mirror, twisting from side to side to see the complete profile of the dress. “I prefer the first one,” she said after consideration.  
  
”Me too,” Wanda agreed, and they moved back into the changing rooms, decisions made.  
  
  
Outfits bought, they wandered out and waited with drinks in the canteen for the boys, and shared a few jokes about how Pietro and Clint took twice as long as they did considering the usual stereotype. Eventually, they saw the archer and Sokovian wandering through to their table with a bag each in tow before sitting down and ordering lunch together.  
  
Evie noticed they both looked a little off, not looking at each other as they waited for their table to be served.  
  
Clint noticed her staring and ignored it, but when she turned her eyes to Pietro, a smile cracked through his shitty attempt to stop it.  
  
”I pulled off my shirt and my hearing aids came out. It’s not that funny,” Clint grumbled in explanation and glared at Pietro’s small snort.  
  
”He hit his head on the wall twice,” Pietro added with a shit-eating grin.  
  
”This is bullying,” Clint declared while the rest of the table tried hiding their smiles at Clint’s dramatics. He gave a put-upon pout and folded his arms. “Do you know what it’s like to lose your hearing aids like that? It suddenly turns into _Search and Rescue - Deaf and Naked_ _edition.”_  
  
Evie broke first and laughed into her hands, quickly followed by the giggling twins and Clint just shook his head, covering his eyes in his hands and not even managing to look at their server once they appeared to deliver their food, just deciding to bury himself in the salty taste of defeat and fries and counting every regrettable life choice he'd made in the last forty-odd years.


	35. Champagne

The gala was just as extravagant as anything with Tony Stark’s influence. Grander than their little party before Ultron and with an extended guest list, the ante had been upped as far as the playboy had dared. Streaming ribbons of glittering gold adorning the walls, overhead chandeliers twinkling like the night stars, snowflake cut outs fluttering in champagne and silver wrapped around the tables and chairs and balconies, a tall twirling Christmas tree in the far corner of the room with wrapped presents all labelled to different charities haphazardly piled up underneath. There was even a projector in the ceiling creating the illusion of falling snow across the room, fading into non-existence a metre above even the tallest party guests’ head.  
  
The tinkling of toasting glasses filled the air above the chatter of the mingling guests, swaying and humming along to the festive music that filled the air, in dresses and suits of equally enchanting class. Truly a spectacle fitting a billionaire philanthropists’ public image.  
  
[Clint](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/97/0b/25/970b25493091388c915f835e42f02b25.jpg), [Evelyn](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/99/ac/07/99ac07596d0cf4aa1a37db7c4a6eaf77--dinner-gowns-evening-gowns.jpg), [Wanda](https://www.colorsbridesmaid.com/media/catalog/product/21498/red/b21_1.jpg), and [Pietro ](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/1d/8f/97/1d8f97ad68bccb270b69e1ccfe15dafe.jpg)arrived too early to be fashionably late but not early enough to be unattractively eager. Most of the Avengers that had accepted their invites were already settled into the party, and a few familiar faces from either previous parties or public television were mingling around the crowds too. Evelyn and Clint were already making plans of how to avoid the known reporters for the remainder of the night.  
  
”Well, here we are. Welcome to the annual Avengers Christmas Charity Gala,” Clint introduced once they exited the elevator, broadly gesturing to the room.  
  
”What are we supposed to do?” Pietro asked, already looking bored with the whole thing and even less interested in the idea of staying and talking to other people.  
  
”Drink, have fun, dance a little. And, uh, try not to kill Stark,” Clint suggested.  
  
”No promises,” the twins replied together, though Wanda’s was significantly more lighthearted.  
  
Clint took a breath, mentally steeling himself for the night ahead, and nodded. ”Right.”  
  
The elevator closed behind them and started heading downstairs for the next group to be okayed by Happy before being brought up to this floor.  
  
”I’m gonna go say hi to Nat,” Clint broke the silence before he casually crossed the room to the redhead making small talk with Bruce by the spiralling staircase, leaving the other three behind looking around the room without much enthusiasm.  
  
Steve and Sam could be seen hanging by the pool tables, Tony happily entertaining guests by the large wall-to-ceiling window, Thor nowhere to be seen which wasn’t a surprise since he’d told them he was returning to Asgard for a while, and now Clint, Natasha, and Bruce all idly chatting by the stairs and being handed crystal champagne flutes to ease the conversation.  
  
The elevator behind them opened again to let out the next group of guests into the room.  
  
”I want to sit down,” Pietro announced, moving towards the barstools across the room with Wanda sticking close to his side.  
  
Evelyn, after a short squinting look of confusion into the crowd in front of them, followed. ”Yeah, the bar is a good idea,” she mumbled, eyes lingering in that one spot for a moment longer before she turned and walked to the bar with them.  
  
  
A few minutes later, all three had drinks in hand. It was easy to fall into a conversation between themselves than anyone hanging a few feet away sending curious glances their way, more towards the twins than Evelyn, as if the guests were deciding whether they were allowed to like the Maximoff’s yet. No doubt the TV coverage of Sokovia had greatly exaggerated anything they knew about the twins to the general public, no matter how much Tony had attempted to keep it to a contained level, and without further public appearances (as well as Pietro not being dead like he’d been initially reported to be) it was easy to understand the concern.  
  
No one bothered to pay any mind to the glances, but the twins couldn’t help but be reminded of back when they were first put under examinations with Strucker, being poked and prodded with every little test and experiment they were forced to endure.  
  
Drinks were a helpful distraction.  
  
”Hello, Miss Maximoff.”  
  
As was the appearance of a synthetic body appearing by the bar in a sweater and jeans and holding an empty drinking glass.  
  
Wanda visibly brightened as her eyes landed on the Vision who stood just a few steps from her. ”Vis, we talked about this,” she said, the side of her mouth curling up into a smile despite her scolding for his use of address.  
  
”Yes, but this is a formal event so I assumed I should…” he paused, words faltering, before staring again. “You look lovely, Wanda.” He nodded to her dress flowing gently in the breeze let in by the air conditioning above the bar.  
  
”Thank you, Vision.” Wanda smiled happily.  
  
Vision matched her smile, and then his eyes flicked up to see the two adults stood just behind the youngest Maximoff watching him like hawks. Vision cleared his throat. ”This must be your brother, Pietro,” he nodded his head in polite greeting to the silver-haired brother.  
  
Pietro picked up his beer bottle from the bar, moving to take a sip with narrowed eyes. ”So you’re the toaster,” he said.  
  
Evie choked on her drink. She swatted his arm and scolded ”_Pietro_” under her breath as her throat burned from the alcohol.  
  
”Don’t take any offence, Vision.” Wanda tried to cover her own embarrassment with a harsh glare aimed to her overprotective brother before smiling sweetly at the synthetic man.  
  
”None taken at all. Although I don’t believe I have or was ever used to make toast, even as JARVIS.” His brow furrowed as he searched his current memory banks for the order before his expression straightened out again. He put his empty glass on the bar and didn’t pick up a fresh one. “Might I ask you to join me by the window? The view is quite spectacular,” he suggested, gesturing to the clear area by the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the city.  
  
Wanda’s expression filled with relief. ”I would love to.” she answered, sliding off her barstool and taking the hand he offered to her.  
  
As soon as they were out of earshot and almost out of sightline, Evie turned on Pietro. “That was uncalled for.”  
  
”You laughed.”  
  
”I know and I’m ashamed.” She shook her head, but as her eyes flicked back to his, the two coulnd’t help smiles coming to their lips over the situation. At least until Pietro took a look back towards Wanda and Vision standing close together by the window and his expression fell markedly grumpy. “Oh stop that or I’ll have to go find someone who doesn’t look like they want to murder someone else here,” Evie threatened gently, sipping what was left of her glass.  
  
”Not sure you’ll find many of those tonight,” said a familiar friendly voice from the opposite side of Pietro.  
  
Evie looked up as the person slid into the seat Wanda previously occupied. ”Hey Thomas.” she greeted softly.  
  
Thomas gestured to the bartender for a drink before smiling at Evie, and then letting his eyes fall on Pietro. ”Hello again.”  
  
”Hi,” Pietro said, but it was devoid of any defining emotion, still brooding over his sister.  
  
”Are you going to be a sourpuss the whole night, P?” Evie asked.  
  
Pietro grunted, eloquently.  
  
Evelyn rolled her eyes, turning her attention to Thomas instead. ”Ignore him. His sister has a boyfriend and they’ve gone off somewhere together so he’s being pouty.”  
  
”Ah.” Thomas nodded, expression shifting to understanding.  
  
Evie hummed, looking him up and down. ”You alright?” she asked a little quieter.  
  
Thomas smiled gently. ”Better than I was, definitely,” he confirmed, picking up the delivered drink and taking a long gulp.  
  
”Any Christmas plans?”  
  
”I’m going home for dinner, as usual, and planning to drink myself into a stupor. You?”  
  
”The usual, spending it between Grandma’s and Clint’s and planning to get absolutely smashed on gingerbread.”  
  
Thomas chuckled. ”That sounds like fun.”  
  
”Always is.” Evie hummed.  
  
Pietro quickly lost interest in their conversation, the noise of the party a blurred haze to him. Before his accident, he would have been first on the dancefloor and happily drinking himself into a stupor, possibly flirting with a couple of girls like the ones he spied across the room sneaking glances and giggling with each other. Now he had no interest in any of that. Except maybe the drinking. But according to Evie on the way here, because of his metabolism, it would be significantly harder to get drunk. Lucky him.  
  
Pietro shifted off the barstool and began to wander. He tried not to think about how his walk was still just slightly off-kilter, or how compensating by walking a little slower to keep his balance for longer frustrated him. He’d come to accept that his power might never return, but being this slow was not a comfort. He couldn’t wait until he could break into a run and not risk skidding his face across the concrete for his jello legs.  
  
He found refuge on a sofa by the pool tables still commandeered by the Captain and Falcon, halfway through a game.  
  
Sam noticed him a few minutes in. ”Wanna have a go?” he asked.  
  
Pietro shook his head. ”Just want to watch.”  
  
”No problem, man.” Sam nodded and moved to take his shot as Pietro settled down to watch properly, the half-empty bottle in his hand resting on his knee.  
  
This was not fun.  
  
His sister was off with her “boyfriend”, his best friend was talking to someone else, and Clint was busy with Natasha and Bruce and not even anywhere to be seen anymore. He had no interest in a dance, in the pool game, in listening to one more champagne cork pop obnoxiously in his ears. This was a mistake to come here.  
  
Movement in his peripherals dragged his attention to a slowly approaching blonde, looking ever so slightly anxious about herself and stopping a few paces away, fiddling with her curled hair. ”Um, hi?” she started quietly, twirling the lock of hair around one finger playfully.  
  
”Hello?” he replied in a slightly suspicious tone at the sudden appearance of the girl in a noticeably short dress and heels.  
  
Why was she looking at him like that? In fact, why was she even talking to him out of everyone else around here?  
  
The girl in question started chewing her lip and batted her eyelashes at him in a coy fashion.  
  
Oh.  
  
_Oh_.  
  
Well, maybe this night might be a little fun after all.  
  
  
Evelyn and Thomas were still at the bar, Evelyn gesturing to the bartender for another drink without looking his way. She actually hadn’t looked at anything else since spying a blond inching slowly closer to the silver-haired Sokovian a little way away.  
  
”Evelyn.”  
  
”What?”  
  
”You just agreed to rob a bank with me.”  
  
”I did what?” Evie blinked, looking back to Thomas who she’d been intermittently nodding through his story about the last time he’d stayed at his parents for Christmas. Something about the turkey getting stuck on his father’s hand was the last thing she heard, she thought. How long ago was that?  
  
Thomas raised an eyebrow at her. ”You’re distracted tonight,” he commented.  
  
”Just tired,” she replied with a shrug, picking up her new drink and taking a long sip.  
  
Thomas sighed, slumping his normally perfectly straight posture and shaking his head. ”Go talk to him. Don’t worry, I’ll find myself some other company.”  
  
Evie felt a little guilty at his words and her obvious wandering attention. ”I wasn’t-”  
  
”Yeah, yeah. Just go. I swear if I have to watch you staring at him like that any longer, I may vomit.” He waved her off but with a humoured smile.  
  
”Staring at him like what?”  
  
”Ugh, just go already, sweetheart.”  
  
  
Pietro was back to this not being such a fun night.  
  
At first, the blonde had been cute, talking sweetly and asking him the usual questions you would expect when bumping into someone you found cute, one question including his star sign which wasn’t a question he was used to being asked but replied anyway. Once she’d learned he was technically a part of the Avengers, her attention increased ten-fold. But the more and more he talked to her and tried to settle himself back into his old habits, the more he noticed he wasn’t actually interested in flirting with her. Nothing to do with the girl herself, he soon realised, but the fact was he just wasn’t interested in _anyone_.  
  
Well, except for perhaps one person.  
  
And when that thought crossed his mind, he completely lost interest in the girl that had started edging closer to him. He had begun trying to nicely shrug her off at that point but she wasn’t really taking the hint. Or maybe he wasn’t being clear enough. It had been a while since Pietro had really been “on the scene” so perhaps he was just being too subtle about it. Either way, this was getting very uncomfortable and he found himself wondering who the closest person he knew was and the quickest way to excuse himself to run to them.  
  
Someone approached them from the bar and when he heard Evie’s voice ask ”Hey, Pietro?” he almost believed he was dreaming it. But when he glanced to see her standing over the two holding a glass he knew he was still awake.  
  
”Evelyn?” The blonde from beside him broke from her playful flirty tone as a note of surprise entered her voice.  
  
Evie’s eyes flicked back to the blond. ”Jenny,” she acknowledged, and Pietro didn’t think he’d ever heard such a scarily calm tone come from the brunette.  
  
The blonde sat up a little straighter on the sofa. ”Haven’t seen you in a few years.” she said.  
  
”_Annual Ashforn Fun Day,_ if I recall last,” Evie responded in the same tone.  
  
”Yeah.” Jenny nodded. For a long stretch, the only sounds were the party around them as the two girls stared each other down and Pietro sat awkwardly between them. Eventually, the blonde shuffled in her seat, and in doing so, ended up closer to the Sokovian. “What did you want with Pietro?” she asked, and her fingers brushed his shoulder softly.  
  
Evie’s grip on her glass tightened, as did her expression. She looked to Pietro, directly addressing him, ”I wanted to know if you wanted another drink. Also, Clint wants to know whether you’re up for a game of cards on the balcony?” she asked.  
  
Relief flooded the boy and he stood, only wobbling a little from moving too fast. ”Uh, yes. That sounds good,” he agreed quickly, the way Evie had been standing close to the sofa when Pietro stood landed them barely a step apart.  
  
Evie felt a smug sense of pride bloom in her chest, and then her eyes landed back on the blonde watching them with slightly narrowed eyes. “Thank you Jenny for keeping him company. I’ll take it from here,” she told her with a pleasant smile.  
  
The blonde looked ready to argue her piece but after a moment of looking Evelyn up and down, a not-well-hidden disgust in her eyes, and then to Pietro who was doing nothing to jump in and stop the brunette from cutting short their little tête-à-tête, she stood up.  
  
”No problem. It was hardly a chore anyway,” the flirtatious warmth returned to her voice, giving Pietro a wink before spinning and starting to walk away with a sway in her step.  
  
”All sugar no substance in the guests tonight, hm?” Evelyn asked loud enough for Jenny to hear, and that swaying in her hips soon halted as she scurried off to another part of the room thankfully out of sight of the both of them.  
  
”Thank you,” Pietro breathed out, shoulders dropping, relaxed.  
  
Evie finished her drink wordlessly before glancing to his empty bottle sitting on the floor by his ankle. ”You want another drink? I mean, it’s not gonna do much for you but the taste is still nice, right?” she asked, nodding back to the bar.  
  
Pietro nodded quickly. ”Please.”  
  
A minute later they both had another drink - Evie’s non-alcoholic because not everyone had a metabolism like Pietro’s and she’d rather not end up on the morning news in some embarrassing drunken state. She’d already had to deal with one of her past bullies showing up to the gala, that was enough fun for her for one night. Regardless, they both settled into a light conversation with each other, pointedly avoiding the topic of Jenny, until the clinking of a spoon against glass caught everyone’s attention to the upper balcony of the room and the billionaire playboy who stood there.  
  
”Hello? Is this thing on?” he joked to his glass as everyone settled down to quiet for him to speak. He smiled a winning grin as soon as the room was silent. "Ah, here we are again for another year for the Annual Avengers Christmas Gala. So good to see all of your faces. Some of you have aged with grace, others not so much. Yes, hello to your sir in the back."   
  
Tony waved to Steve specifically because he was an asshole, and the crowd gave a few chuckles at his mild humour.   
  
"But in all seriousness, it feels great to be here for another year. Granted, a lot has happened in the last few months, in the last few years in fact, but at least now we know that we're safe, the _world _is safe again. We're progressing, we're working towards a better and brighter future. Tonight isn’t about us, it’s about what we leave behind for future generations. And with the donations made tonight from multiple benefactors here, we are moving ever closer to that future. So a great thank you and festive wishes to our donators, and a Merry Christmas to all. May it be a safe and cherished one.”  
  
The crowd cheered in response and raised a toast, the clinking of glasses filling the air once again before the hubbub of the party grew again and Tony disappeared off the balcony to another part of the party.   
  
”Amen to that,” Evie muttered into her champagne flute with a shake of her head.  
  
”Does he do that every year?”  
  
”Yup.”  
  
Pietro looked around the party which had grown significantly busier than when they had first arrived. The air conditioning above them even seemed to be struggling to keep up as the room grew warmer with more and more bodies.  
  
”It is crowded here,” he said out loud.  
  
Evie nodded in agreement, looking around and spying the staircase in the corner, a “Staff Only” sign pinned to the top and no one near it. She chewed her lip and asked, ”wanna sneak down to the observation deck?”  
  
Pietro glanced to where she was looking before he began to smile.  
  
A quick dash through the crowd and sneaking down the stairs unseen, they stepped onto the skywalk overlooking the launchpad with the Quinjet sitting proudly waiting for its next mission. The music was muffled this far away but still audible, and unless someone was at least halfway down the restricted stairs, no one was able to see them from here. It was also a lot cooler down here, the room normally kept at a colder temperature for all the mechanical work it served.  
  
”This is better,” Evie said once they found a spot to sit down, legs dangling over the edge of the skywalk and both leaning their sides on two of the poles holding the railing up. As the air conditioning began to hit full force and lightly blow Evelyn’s hair back where it rested behind her shoulders, she hummed and closed her eyes. “Nice breeze.”  
  
Pietro watched the small display, blurting out, ”you look beautiful.”  
  
Evie blinked her eyes open and glanced at him, smiling shyly. ”Thanks.”  
  
He cleared his throat, shifting a little in place. ”I realise I did not tell you earlier. I said it to my sister, but not you,” he excused himself.  
  
Evie nodded softly, thinking a moment, before speaking. ”You look handsome,” she said in truth.  
  
He scrunched his nose, shifting again. ”This jacket pinches,” he told her.  
  
”Take it off then.” Evelyn shrugged.  
  
Pietro seemed to remember there was no one else around and unbuttoned his jacket, hanging it over the railing above his head, then as a further action rolled up his sleeves to his elbows and loosened his tie, opening the top button. He breathed out a long sigh and relaxed.  
  
Evie swallowed. “Better?” she asked, coughing when her voice cracked.  
  
Pietro didn’t notice, leaning back on his hands. ”Much.”  
  
Evie looked down at her feet dangling over the edge of the skywalk. ”Well, while we’re going there…” she mumbled, pulling her feet up and starting to undo her heel buckles. Sliding them off, she had to stop herself making the noise she wanted to before she put them to the side and stretched out her feet back over the edge again.  
  
Listening to the muffled music, the two sat in a comfortable silence looking out into the room. With no windows, all light came from the dimmed overhead lights bathing everything in a soft white glow unless the launch gates were opened to the outside. It would have been a nicer view than the practically greyscale room they were faced with but neither felt the need to reach for the control panel across the room.  
  
Commotion about ten minutes later drug their attention back to the stairs where flashing lights and cheers could be seen and heard. Guests were beginning to take pictures with participating Avengers, as was another usual thing to happen at the annual galas. She hoped no one would come looking for her for a photo. It had been known to happen but on much rarer occasions than her teammates. She didn’t mind.  
  
But, as her eyes wandered back to Pietro rolling his eyes and slumping back against the pole he was leaning against, Evie remembered her phone in her pocket. ”Do you wanna take a picture together?” she asked softly.  
  
Pietro looked at her with a furrowed brow and she suddenly regretted asking. ”I thought you said you didn’t like your face in pictures,” he said.  
  
Evie was surprised he remembered that, but then acknowledged it wasn’t a no. ”Well, I don’t look like a grease monkey right now, I look kinda pretty, so I have a better chance of liking it,” she replied, slipping her phone out and was met with no argument.  
  
”You look pretty either way,” he told her.  
  
The honesty in his voice startled her a little, but she recovered quickly. ”Thank you.”  
  
She shuffled a little closer to him so they sat side by side but not touching. She lifted the phone and tilted her head and Pietro copied her, ending up knocking their skulls together and both groaned in pain. There was a shared giggle and head rubs before they tried again, this time much more gently tilting their heads and smiling as Evelyn took the picture.  
  
She checked the screen after a moment, frowning. “Can we, uh, can we take another one? The angle is weird,” she mumbled to Pietro.  
  
The Sokovian didn’t complain as she turned back to the camera again and lifted the camera into a slightly different position. While adjusting the angle, she saw Pietro on the screen shuffling slightly closer but then stopped as he realised she probably didn’t want him that close.  
  
“Actually, being closer would probably solve the issue,” she said softly and nodded.  
  
A moment’s hesitation before he shuffled close enough they were leaning on each other, so much she could feel the heat radiating off him. How he was still that warm in here was beyond her but she just lifted the phone and tilted her head again, only this time being so close, her head ended up resting on his shoulder. She went to move it but Pietro’s head leaning on hers stopped her and she assumed that meant it was okay.  
  
Their eyes met on the screen.  
  
It was a look that lasted no longer than a moment, but Evelyn could have sworn she saw an electric spark flood his eyes. She blamed her phone camera. She angled the phone and they both smiled into the camera as she clicked the button.  
  
She pulled it down to her and checked the screen. “Good enough for a Christmas card,” she hummed and showed it to Pietro who gave her a thumbs up. She sent it to Clint who she knew wouldn’t check his phone until they either left the party or he wanted to leave and couldn’t find them but with hours left for reasonably celebrations she just put the phone back in her pocket and returned to staring back ahead at the launch room.  
  
It occurred to her that neither of them moved from picture position but she wasn’t feeling the need to complain. In fact, this was actually quite comfortable. And it felt familiar, in a way. She was reminded of the few nights they’d spent together on the sofa when one or both couldn’t sleep. They fell asleep faster when they were in the same room. Perhaps it was a subconscious thing, a trust they had after being through so much together in the last few months. Perhaps it was nothing. But all Evelyn knew was that her eyes were sliding shut right then and there and she had no intention of stopping herself.  
  
There was the distant sound of someone popping a new bottle of champagne. From the cheer that followed, Stark was the best guess.  
  
She was also vaguely aware of someone talking. From a lack of other options, Pietro was the best guess. But she didn’t catch whatever he’d said even knowing that.  
  
”Pardon?” She pulled her head up enough to rest her chin on his shoulder, eyelids heavy.  
  
”I’m glad you’re here,” Pietro repeated, turning his head to her, inches away from her own.  
  
She smiled tiredly. ”I’m glad you’re here too, P.”  
  
He looked just as sleepy as her from this distance away, and she could feel how warm his breath was from here. Seriously how was he that warm in this room? Well, now she had new questions for their next check-up with Bruce and Tony.  
  
She was so close she could count the veins in his eyes. She also felt deja-vu going off in the back of her mind. But for electric blue eyes like his, they could also seem really soft when he was tired like he was now, the same as the rest of his features. She could smell the beer on his breath.  
  
A loud noise and vibration from her lap jolted her up and off his shoulder, her phone blaring its loud musical ringtone happily destroying the moment. She reached for it only for a cruel trick of fate to have it to slip out of her hands and out off the edge of the skywalk. Pietro and Evelyn watched helplessly as it fell into the darker parts of the room before hearing that rough clattering of a phone hitting a concrete floor that no one ever wanted to hear in their life. Especially not from at least twenty feet in the air.  
  
At least the music stopped.  
  
Evie sighed, banging her head against the nearby railing pole. ”Well, shit.”  
  
One moment later, the distant sound of the ringtone echoed mockingly throughout the room. Both stared down at the device illuminating from the darkness.  
  
”How is it still..?”  
  
”Tony made it so I’m not questioning it.” Evie held up her hands. Upon listening to the ringtone in the following silence, she realised it was Clint’s tone and she couldn’t just leave her phone in whatever state it was in down there. She rested her head against the railing again. “Ugh, I really do not wanna go get that,” she groaned.  
  
Pietro hummed and reached up for his jacket, and in one of the strangest things Evelyn had ever seen the boy do and that included coming back from the dead, he dropped it over the side of the skywalk so it fluttered down into the darkened room.  
  
They watched as it fell in the same direction as the phone, but as the jacket opened up, air resistance had it changing course and landing on top of the Quinjet in a colourful pop of navy blue against the gunmetal grey.  
  
Evie stared at the jacket for a few moments before turning her questioning look on Pietro. “Why?”  
  
”I thought you might feel better if we both had something to go get,” Pietro said, head ducking and avoiding eye contact. “I did not plan for it to go that way,” he added with an embarrassed mumble.  
  
Evie was silent for a long time, long enough Pietro’s gut clenched hard enough to hurt, before she erupted into a fit of slightly-tipsy laughter.  
  
Pietro glanced up at her from under his lashes to see her throwing her head back in utter joy as she laughed which easied his inner turmoil over the situation just a smidge.  
  
When the young mechanic got her breath back, she wiped her eyes with the back of her dress sleeve and cleared her throat. She let out a few softer giggles and shook her head, picking up her heels to slide back on before standing up. ”You idiot,” she said, ruffling his hair with the biggest grin on her face he’d ever seen.  
  
Pietro didn’t think he’d ever been happier to be called that.


	36. Basketball

As Christmas crawled ever closer and the first flurries of snow began to fall in Ashforn, the village was already ready for the winter ahead. Sparkling lights were strung from the lamposts, supermarkets were stocked with roast foods and sugary sweets fit for a feast, and groups of teens offering to shovel driveways were out in barrels hoping to gain some extra pocket money in time for the holiday.  
  
The Barton household had started to really crank up the Christmas vibes too; all decorations aside from the tree had been hung up around the house, hot chocolate and marshmallows had been stocked up in the cupboards, bad Christmas jumpers and neckties had been bought and stashed away, and presents all purchased ready to be wrapped. It was never a normal Christmas in the Barton household regardless of what year it was, and with the addition of the twins, it was even stranger.  
  
But in the spirit of giving and sharing, Evie and Clint decided to share some of their more normal amusements and traditions with them too.  
  
“I mean, it’s not a tradition for us, really, but it’s just something we end up doing every year whether it’s intentional or not,” Evie explained, pushing the sleeves of her shirt up and tying her hair back.  
  
”Yeah, it’s just a bit of fun and to sate Evelyn’s gingerbread addiction,” Clint teased, pulling out the last of the gummy sweets and opening the bag before dropping them on the island counter. ”Which reminds me, no going overboard this year.” He wagged a finger in her direction and shut the cupboard door.  
  
Evie rolled her eyes. ”It wasn’t that bad.”  
  
Clint levelled her with a deadly-serious look. ”Evelyn. Yes, it was,” he promised.  
  
Doing a double-take at the odd looks the twins were giving the pair, Evelyn explained, ”I get very giddy with gingerbread and I had… just a _little _more than I should have last year. But like, just a smidge more. It was really not that much. Just a _smidge_.” She held her finger and thumb an inch apart.  
  
”It took me half an hour to get that frosting off the wall and there’s still a stain there now,” Clint mumbled grumpily like the old man he was, handing the twins their piping bags full of icing ready to stick the walls and roof of the houses.   
  
They all had one house to build each, the two eldest of the four knowing full well it would turn into a competition no matter how much they denied it. It had done every year because there was just that moment where you don’t care and then you do and then it gets _way _too out of hand. Plus, Clint was a competitive ass at the best of times, and Evelyn just loved a challenge.  
  
”Because you’re too lazy to paint over it,” Evie mumbled back in the same grumpy tone.  
  
”_You _paint over it. It’s _your _mess.”  
  
”_You _paint over it. It’s _your _house.”   
  
They locked themselves in a staring match, both with their hands on their hips and leaning forwards, before Clint decided to dot Evie’s nose with icing from his piping bag.   
  
”Clint!” Evie whined and pushed him away before he could do anything else. He laughed. She scrunched her nose like an angry puppy and opened the mouth to make a comment about the irony of childishness coming from the oldest person in the room but paused as her eyes drifted to the right, to where the eldest Sokovian stood with the metal end of the piping bag in his mouth and happily helping himself.   
  
Pietro noticed her and paused, guiltily, everyone soon catching on and looking over. He slowly took the bag from his mouth but not without some of the sugary paste dripping over his bottom lip.  
  
”Sorry. I’m hungry,” he mumbled around a mouthful of icing before swiping his lips and sucking his finger clean.   
  
Evelyn tried not to think about just how inappropriate that looked. She raised an eyebrow instead. ”When are you not?” She received a display of his tongue sticking out of his open mouth filled with icing in reply. “Lovely,” she deadpanned before wiping the icing from her own nose and trying it. “Good icing though,” she had to admit.  
  
”_Finished_.”  
  
Clint, Pietro, and Evelyn looked to the youngest Maximoff and like something from a comic book all three sets of eyes widened simultaneously as they looked at the pristine, complete gingerbread house - all walls perfectly glued with icing, gummy decorations strategically but satisfyingly placed in colourful patterns, and candy canes marking the doorway and garden area of the cake board included. The last wisps of red magic flooded from Wanda’s fingers as she smiled proudly at her creation.  
  
”Does it look good?” she asked them, and it would have been taken as hesitant of not for the self-satisfied smirk wide on her red lips.  
  
Evelyn looked at the finished gingerbread house, down at the full piping bag in her hands, then back up to the house. She carefully put the piping bag down on the counter and started walking towards the door.   
  
“I’m gonna go find that paint now…”  
  
  
  
The last part of the classic Barton Household Christmas was always to put up the tree.   
  
It was the last thing they did when getting the house ready because putting up the tree gave everything finality. When the little figure of an angel with a bow and arrow (a gag gift from Stark a that Clint ended up actually liking) was plopped on the top of it just barely an inch from scraping the ceiling paint, the atmosphere in the house felt as if it changed. It was the official “This Is Christmas” moment.  
  
And so, gingerbread houses all made and setting in the kitchen, the team the four completed the last piece of the traditional puzzle together by throwing obnoxiously shiny tinsel on the branches, hanging up various dented and chipped ornaments, and singing Christmas songs loud and off-key enough to blast the windows into the next universe. Wanda offered to place the angel on top using her powers and saved Clint the risk of climbing the old ladder and throwing out his back, or attempting to use his bow to shoot it on like he had the second Christmas he and Evie shared. And that’s the story of why the nearby radiator was newer than the others.  
  
”Oh, wait, hang on. We’re not done,” Clint suddenly said, disappearing into the kitchen and opening a cupboard.  
  
”But the angel is the last thing…” Evie mumbled, pointing to the top of the tree and hearing the sound of Lucky’s claws entering the room as the canine came to admire their handiwork.  
  
Clint jogged back in holding something in his hands. ”No, I was saving these and almost forgot.” He gestured for them to hold out their hands and he dropped little disks on chains into their hands, each different colours. “Pietro, Wanda, Evelyn, and myself.”  
  
When they all had one, it became clear what they were. They were ornaments judging by the chains connected to the disks, each one the size of a palm and designed with a logo. A personal logo for each of them.   
  
Evie recognised hers clearly but the others looked bewildered. “They’re your symbols. Trademarks,” she explained as she studied their personalised designs, Pietro’s a white lightning bolt on a blue background and Wanda’s themed red with a familiar symbol on top Evie recognised from the belt of her costume. Evie looked back to Clint. ”Did you make these?”  
  
Clint smiled proudly. ”Yeah.” He held his own in his hand, purple-themed with a crosshair design.  
  
”In which case, they will be extremely fragile. Watch your fingers,” Evie mumbled non-too-subtly to the twins.  
  
”Hey,” Clint chided and Evie smiled perfectly innocently. He shook his head and reached up to hang his on a somehow empty branch. It spun a little as it was hung but stopped when the logo faced outwards. He nodded to himself, hands on his hips, before looking to the others who hadn’t moved to do the same. “Well? Go on. They’re for the tree,” he prompted.  
  
Evie was the next to hang hers, just by Clints’ but not close enough to knock into his, it spun and sparkled before slowing.  
  
The twins shared a glance before hanging their’s side by side, the edges gently tapping against each other when they spun before showing their pride to the group.  
  
”There.” Clint nodded proudly. “Now it’s finished.”   
  
And Evelyn couldn’t help but feel warm inside when she saw that childlike spark in his eyes. Though her brow did furrow a little when she thought she saw something literally spark in his eyes. Pietro frowned back at her, confused.  
  
Lucky nuzzled at Clint’s leg with his head bowed and whining quietly. Clint scratched his head in reply. “Well, I did have one for you too but you ripped it off the tree earlier didn’t you?” he asked deliberately.  
  
Lucky lowered his head guiltily and looked away.  
  
”It was shaped like a bone, what did you expect to happen?” Wanda asked with a raised eyebrow.  
  
Clint grunted but couldn’t really argue.  
  
Lucky nuzzled further at his leg.  
  
”Yeah, yeah, we can go play outside for a little while,” the archer promised before beginning to look around for his coat.  
  
”We can make snowmen?” Wanda asked hesitantly.  
  
”Sure.” Evie smiled as she picked up her boots from beside the radiator because she was a smart cookie.  
  
”Snowball fight?” Pietro asked hopefully.  
  
”Snowball fights are banned at the farm.” Clint said over his shoulder as he zipped up his jacket.  
  
”Why?”  
  
Evie and Clint glanced at each other.  
  
”…reasons.”  
  
The twins shared a glance at the others’ glancing but said nothing. It wouldn’t have mattered if they did. Evelyn and Clint had agreed they would never again speak of the snowball incident that landed them in Bruce’s medical lab for two days. Clint would say one thing though - Evelyn had one hell of an arm.  
  
  
Three days until Christmas and the snow was sticking as a blanket on the farm grounds and surrounding hills. It meant the house’s wood furnace was having its work cut out for it as most everyone snuggled up in front of it watching TV during the day when they had nothing else to do.   
  
Pietro would think he enjoyed it the most, he had done since he learned how the furnace worked and felt how soft the blankets were here. After so many years struggling through the winter, Clint’s house was a welcome reprieve for him and his sister. It made him feel safe and at home. This place really could be a real home for him and his sister.  
  
Waking up earlier than usual that morning he felt the urge to go and sit by the fire, even if the heater in his room was worked perfectly fine. Freshly showered and dressed, he was soon sat on the sofa downstairs with the fire on and snuggling up with the blankets when he felt a sudden odd bout of energy. It shouldn’t have been odd, he’d been mostly relaxed lately by putting his energy into decorating and reminiscing with his sister about the happier memories of the holidays with their families, but today something just seemed to be filling him with an urge to get up and get out of the house to do something. He was bouncing his leg before he knew he was doing it, and the fire all of a sudden seemed too warm.  
  
He felt like this sometimes before he sought out Evie, just to talk or watch her fiddle with a project and he tended to calm down from his mood soon enough. He glanced over the edge of the sofa to what Clint had given him the day before after cleaning out the barn and making lists of equipment to replace. Perhaps he could ask to do something with Evelyn today to get whatever this was out of his system.  
  
”Hey, P. You’re up early,” Evie’s voice came from across the room as she stepped down the last two stairs.   
  
Pietro had started using his own room since they decorated, so being surprised seeing him up this early was justified. To say the Sokovian was pleased with his own space was an understatement, he hadn’t even let his sister inside for the first week.  
  
“So are you,” he acknowledged the time by the TV clock and sat up a little straighter. “What are you doing today?” he asked, beginning to subconsciously fidget.  
  
Evie was dressed in a hideously ugly winter sweater that she somehow managed to make look not ugly and her toolbelt was present around her waist. “I think I’m gonna try finishing up the work on my motorcycle today. I’m hoping to have it done before Christmas so I can drive it on the roads safely on the day.”  
  
Pietro’s eyes bulged. ”How can you be working in there? It’s freezing outside.”  
  
”Well, I have a coat for a start,” Evie replied. “And there is a heater in there I stick by. Plus, I’m not doing anything major, just replacing the tyres and finishing repairing the engine.”  
  
”Can’t you bring things inside?”  
  
”Clint and I agreed bigger projects stay in the garage so I don’t make too much mess in the house. You should have seen it after my first time fixing up Steve’s bike; moving around the kitchen became professional parkour,” she chuckled softly at the memory and Pietro’s face began to scrunch up as it registered she already had plans and probably wouldn’t have time for him. “You don’t have to come and watch me. No need for that face,” she tutted at him.  
  
”It’s not that,” he mumbled back. Evie looked closer at him at that, sat with his head ducked ever so slightly but otherwise practically vibrating in his seat, hands twitching. When she hummed in question, he reached behind one side of the sofa and revealed the orange basketball which he held in his lap. “Clint found a basketball in the barn yesterday and thought I might want to play with it and the hoop outside. I hoped you might join me if you weren’t busy,” he explained, finally looking up at her with hopeful electric eyes.  
  
”Do you think your legs can handle that?” she asked.  
  
Pietro couldn’t help but smile at her concern even after so long without his crutches. ”I can jog steadily now, remember? I have not had to reach and stabilise myself in some time.”  
  
”I suppose I could put my bike work off for one more day…” she mumbled, glancing away out of the window and biting her lip. Pietro would never admit to anyone, even his sister, that he may have possibly aimed to put on his “puppy eyes” as Evelyn had told him he used whenever asking her for something. And so when she looked back at him and saw said face, he couldn’t help but smirk internally as he saw her hesitant expression melt away. “Yeah, alright. But breakfast first. And you better put on some warmer clothes than those.”  
  
”I will, I will,” he promised, standing up with an enthusiasm he hadn’t felt in weeks and walking into the kitchen with her.  
  
”And you need to put on some boots too. Don’t want you undoing all your progress because you slipped and landed on your ass.”  
  
”I won’t land on my ass.” Pietro grumbled under his breath as he watched her pull down two plates from the cupboard.  
  
She hummed. ”We’ll see.”  
  
  
Breakfast eaten and bodies wrapped in warmer clothes, the pair stepped outside with the basketball. There was only a thin layer of frost on the paths and driveway but a thick layer on the grass and garden. Evie suspected the small pond in the hidden section of the garden may be frozen over. Their breaths came out in clouds in the air and the gentle breeze nipped their skin.  
  
There were four crudely built snowmen to be spotted just a few feet away with crooked smiles and frozen scarves as they moved in front of the basketball hoop. Well, three crudely built snowmen and one messy pile of snow after Lucky got a little too interested and forgot he didn’t have opposable thumbs.  
  
Evie bounced the ball a few times, making marks in the frost below before shooting at the hoop and watching it rebound into Pietro’s hands.  
  
Pietro bounced it in the same way and shot, making it in the first try.  
  
Evelyn tried not to pout at that, instead settling for snatching it before the Sokovian could reach and trying again, getting the same result as the first time.  
  
For the next few minutes, it was a back and forth between them, in which Pietro managed to get three goals without missing which caused the smile he’d come out of the house to grow into a full-on grin when he checked to see if Evie was watching.  
  
”Don’t get cocky, Pietro. I like a challenge,” Evie warned as the ball bounced back into his grasp.  
  
”So do I,” Pietro promised confidently with a smirk, his eyes full of mischief.  
  
Evelyn smiled widely at the obvious dare and waited for his next pass.  
  
Another ten minutes passed and they’d gained an audience. Apparently, Wanda and Clint had been having breakfast and noticed the noise before coming to the window to watch them play. Wanda obviously cheered on for her brother as was to be expected and Clint just seemed to be backing whoever was in the lead according to Wanda’s goal counting.  
  
”Who’s side are you on?” Evie shouted at the window when he cheered for Pietro’s next goal.  
  
”Mine!” he called back, which was a fair answer.  
  
Eventually, they decided to take a break, warm and out of breath with Evie in the lead by two points, or so was shouted through the window by an overly-cosy looking Wanda wrapped up with her cocoa. So they decided to take a walk where the other two couldn’t see them towards the driveway, being careful when climbing over the fence gate. Once settled back firmly on the ground, they looked at the frost covering the flag pattern and Evie got an idea.  
  
She took a few steps before stopping and sliding along the floor, leaving two lines in the white powder. ”Whooooo.” She repeated the action in another direction. “Whoooooo.” And again, three sets of wobbly lines marking out her path as she smiled at the ground. She wondered if she could make a picture in the frost using this method. So she skidded again. “Clint would kill me if he saw me doing this,” she said after coming to a stop and wobbling a little, keeping her balance enough not to end up head-first in the neighbouring field.  
  
”That won’t stop you though,” Pietro guessed.  
  
”No it will not. Whoooooo!”  
  
Pietro smiled softly watching her enjoy such a simple thing. It was nice to see her so relaxed. He really hated it when she looked frustrated, like when she couldn’t figure out what was wrong with one of her projects or when she stood in the kitchen at three am making hot chocolate and not able to sleep. She was a good person. She deserved to be happy.  
  
”You waiting for an invitation?” her voice called out to him from across the driveway, the lines she’d been making resembling something close to lightning bolts.   
  
Pietro smiled in appreciation and readied himself, taking a few steps before stopping and letting the frosted ground slide him. ”Whoooo- ah!” He wobbled, swinging his arms in a windmill motion as his feet slipped and slid underneath him like was on rollerskates. After a moment he regained his balance, arms out in front of him and panting heavily. He looked up to see where Evelyn was, seeing her having stepped closer and looking ready to grab him. But once a second of tense silence passed, she broke into a grin and giggled at him.  
  
Pietro couldn’t help giggling back and standing up, going to try again, this time much less wobbly and a little more confident. They both tried to slide through the fresh frost, sometimes overlapping and causing themselves to awkwardly halt and nearly fall but luck seemed to be favouring them that morning and everyone stayed firmly upright. There was a moment Pietro nearly crashed into the fence gate but as he flung himself back to catch his balance, it ended with him in a back and forth slip-and-slide, looking something like a newly born faun trying to find its legs.  
  
Evie came to a stop and watched him but he didn’t look in any serious danger regardless of his flailing. In fact, she could see a smile on his face, and for a moment she wondered if he really was sliding around because of balance or because he was putting on a show for her benefit. It didn’t really matter either way as she felt laughter shake at her chest, and soon both were giggling as Pietro continued sliding around on the driveway and Evelyn continued laughing and stepping backwards towards the road when he began making grabby hands as if reaching to eventually pull her down with him.  
  
Its probably why neither of them saw the truck coming.


	37. Vertigo

Pain. That's the first thing Evelyn registered when her heart resumed beating. Her back and neck burned together with a passion, a pain that shot through her nerves and left a lingering sting behind. Her head ached as it spun. There was no ground below her feet. Her heartbeat rang loudly in her ears, just barely covering the screeching of tyres in the distance.  
  
It took her brain a while to catch up with her senses to realise she was cocooned in snow, lying flat on the ground and staring upwards. It took a few more seconds to realise she was not staring at the snowy sky, but instead up into the electric blue eyes of Pietro, on top of her and breathing hard, eyes charged with energy as he stared back at her in slowly easing panic and bewilderment.  
  
She might have believed she'd really been hit and was now either dead or dreaming if it wasn’t for the feeling of vertigo tingling in her gut once the adrenaline slowed. The same feeling she’d gotten whenever Pietro used his powers to carry her.  
  
”Hey, are you guys alright?”  
  
The voice that broke the tension snapped both of them out of their staring to watch the driver of the truck walking towards the low wall of the garden they'd rushed into.  
  
Evelyn, after a few tries, found her voice and called out. ”We’re good, Laura.” Her voice was stronger than she'd expected when calling out to the neighbour but she guessed the adrenaline was responsible.  
  
The driver reached the wall and peered over at the two on the ground. "Are you sure? I swear I didn't see you!" Laura promised with a healthy amount of concern on her face as she scanned the two for damage.  
  
"It's okay," Evelyn insisted with a small wave of her hand. Then she swallowed and turned her gaze back to Pietro. “We’re okay, right?” she asked him carefully.  
  
Pietro said nothing, struggling to open his mouth. Instead, he sat up on Evelyn, looking down at his arms and body in lost confusion before looking back to the girl with wide eyes as if she could provide any kind of answer for him.  
  
Evelyn nodded at Laura who after a moment's hesitation turned around and headed back towards the truck, being careful of her stomach when climbing back inside. Evelyn's lips twitched near a smile. Laura had mentioned she was expecting another child - the woman multiplied faster than a catholic rabbit.  
  
"Evelyn..." Pietro's voice brought her attention back to the boy still sitting on top of her as the truck began driving away from the scene, and the reality of what had just happened began to really settle in, including their unexpected intrusion on their neighbours garden.   
  
Evelyn took a few deep breaths before her brain and heart together could go into override, anxiety already coiling around her gut, and cleared her throat. ”We should… head back inside.”  
  
Pietro stared at her for a long moment before he finally managed a small nod. ”Good idea.”  
  
  
Back inside, Clint and Wanda were waiting with lunch when the pair walked in in silence. Wanda would have asked what was wrong if Clint hadn't given her a subtle headshake first, a clear hint to leave it alone, which she thankfully did. Lunch at the table had Clint doing most of the talking, Wanda occasionally responding to the silly anecdotes he attempted to spin, with Evelyn and Pietro saying nothing and barely making eye contact with anyone for the duration of the meal.  
  
And when it was all finished, Evelyn was the first one out of the room and out of the house, walking straight to the garage without a word and busying herself in her work, leaving Pietro and Clint cleaning dishes alone as Wanda played with Lucky in the living room.  
  
"Everything alright, kid?" Clint asked as he dried another dish and put it on the rack.  
  
A head shake.  
  
Clint began washing another under the spray, taking in Pietro's slumped posture and inclined head. "Wanna talk about it?"  
  
Another head shake.  
  
The archer wouldn't push it, giving a short nod and an "alright" before letting the speedy punk wash his own dish and going to help Wanda win tug of war with pizza dog.  
  
Pietro ran his dish under the spray as he continued to dwell on his thoughts.  
  
He could feel there was a new thrumming in his veins. It was low, it was different, but it was _there_. He could _feel _it, just the tingling edge of it teasing at him. He'd felt it in full force outside, if only for a second as he ran across the road and pushed himself and Evelyn out of the way of that truck. It had been overwhelming, a split-second moment not even he really understood at first, and then suddenly he was on top of Evelyn and there was snow all around. And his face hadn't been smashed in by the truck grating.  
  
He thought his heart had stopped when he saw the truck. Maybe it did. He didn't understand his body anymore since his time being Strucker's experiment. Evelyn would know. He should ask her.  
  
Putting his dish on the rack and wiping his hands, he threw his shoes back on and headed outside towards the garage. He found her playing around with the tractor engine, something he'd watched her do time and time again in both record speed and essentially slow motion.  
  
Today seemed to be a record speed day, cogs and pipes flying out of the engine onto the floor and only when Pietro yelped as one distractedly hit him in the leg did Evelyn turn and acknowledge his presence with a glance back. "Sorry." Then she slowed her movements, eyes trained on the open tractor as her hands worked on muscle memory to rip the engine apart with impressive efficiency.  
  
”Evelyn…” Pietro began gently, soon realising he didn't have much else planned to say, but he wasn't going to stand and say nothing. “About earlier…” he didn't get much further, resisting biting the inside of his lip as he watched her figure cease all movements.  
  
"I know."   
  
"My powers..."  
  
"Possibly," she answered, turning around to face him properly.  
  
It was the first time they'd properly looked at each other since they were last outside. The air felt charged with static, even without Pietro's powers in question, and it left an uncomfortable itch on the skin.  
  
"It definitely happened," Evie acknowledged, which soothed a small part of Pietro's mind. Not that he’d doubted it happened, it felt too real to have been his imagination or luck, but it still felt good for him to hear. "This is good. This could be a good sign. It means there’s a possibility your abilities aren't completely gone. Perhaps they're just lying dormant and require a trigger." She dropped her head, threading the cloth through her fingers. "Such as me nearly getting run over by a truck, for example."  
  
Pietro studied her hunched form properly, a stark contrast to the usually peppy and confident girl he knew she really was. Now she was reminiscent of herself under Ultron's control. He hated it. "Are you alright?" he asked, realising like an idiot he hadn't asked her before.  
  
"Yes? Kind of." She gave an impassive shrug. “I’ve been in life-threatening situations multiple times before with worse threats.”  
  
"That doesn't mean you have to be okay," Pietro said, taking a careful step forward towards her.  
  
"I'm fine. Honestly. Just still a little in shock," she insisted, folding her arms over herself. He couldn’t hear a lie in her tone, but that didn't mean she was completely okay.  
  
He wanted to do something. He wanted to comfort her. He needed to. She would do the same for him.  
  
"Would... would you like a hug?" he asked, taking another step towards her holding his arms slightly open.   
  
Evelyn looked wary of him for a moment, folded arms still hugging herself like a protective shield, but then she was moving forward and into his arms without another word and holding tight.  
  
She was a warm respite from the freezing air of December in his hold, the smell of engine oil mixing with jasmine a familiar comfort. Pietro felt that electric under his skin return just slightly, thrumming a little louder in time with his heart. For a moment he forgot everything else: the cold, the tractor, the farm, all of it disappeared with her cuddled up and in his grasp.  
  
Soon, she pulled away and took a few breaths. "I'm okay," she said, and Pietro was sure she was talking to both of them at that moment. "I'm okay." She nodded gently and straightened up, looking much less resigned than a minute before.  
  
Pietro already missed her warmth but gave an encouraging smile. "Good, we don't need the adult of the two of us losing their head," he said.   
  
Evie began to smile at the indirect admission. "So you admit you're a child?"  
  
"Evie..."  
  
Evelyn chuckled and Pietro couldn't help following suit, leaving them both smiling together.  
  
Evie shortly regained her sense of conversation. "Your abilities," she brought them back to the topic at hand, "may come back. But, let’s sleep on it. We’ll do a couple of tests on you tomorrow when we've both calmed down a little. If it was a fluke, then we write it off as one, if not, we’ll tell Clint and Wanda then take you up to Tony and Bruce to see if we can find out more.”  
  
"I can feel," Pietro told her.  
  
"How much?"  
  
"Something. It's... wavering." He held up his hands, staring down at them much like his sister whenever she studied the magic flowing from her fingers, only Pietro failed to see the electricity of his own. His fingers fidgeted the same way, almost a tremble.   
  
Evie gently reached for his hands, giving them both a reassuring squeeze with her own. "Tomorrow. I promise." She gave another squeeze before letting her arms drop, though her hands and Pietro's remained connected.   
  
Pietro gave her a nod back, repeating the squeezing motion. "Tomorrow," he agreed.  
  
  
They said nothing else about it for the rest of the day. They didn't really say much else _at all_ for the rest of the day. Evie invited Pietro to help try putting the tractor engine back together, and after a few mishaps finding the strewn engine parts in the hay, they eventually got it back to a workable condition. From there, they followed their usual routines until dinner, and both Clint and Wanda noticed the change from a few hours before, both of them engaging in the table topics, including Wanda's plan to go on a real first date with Vision in the new year.  
  
However, when it was time to settle down and sleep, Pietro couldn't. His skin thrummed, his heartbeat wouldn't settle, and his mind refused to shut the hell up and let him rest. He tossed around in his bed but no position was comfortable. His limbs itched.  
  
It wasn't the first time he'd felt like this. More nights than he'd like to remember soon after the experiments he'd felt the same way, unable to stay still, unable to calm down. He usually searched for his sister, she usually helped him calm down.  
  
He'd been thinking of his sister's room when he got out of bed, clutching his pillow.  
  
He didn't end up outside his sister's room, clutching his pillow.  
  
Instead, he faced the door the furthest from his own, a frosted glass window obscuring his view inside.  
  
Through the glass window, he could see the lamp was still on. And when he knocked a second time, the door opened, revealing a bedhead Evelyn in her pyjamas and the sight of some project he'd yet to see along with tools spread out over the bedsheet.  
  
Seemed he wasn't the only one having trouble sleeping.  
  
Fortunately, it appeared he didn't need to say anything. Evelyn nodded at him, then nodded her head back towards her bed. "Come on," she said softly.  
  
Pietro relaxed, walking into the room as she shut the door behind him and gestured to the opposite side of the bed.  
  
Evelyn moved her tools onto the bedside table, sitting up against the headboard and dimming the lamp slightly before continuing her work on her project.  
  
Pietro moved around and carefully tucked himself into "his" side, clutching his own pillow close with his back facing Evelyn and trying to get comfortable. At first, he was fine, but then his restlessness caught up with him, and even though he really didn't want to disturb the mechanic beside him he couldn't help shuffling around attempting to force himself motionless with little success, even after a few minutes of trying.  
  
Then there was a hand on his head. He stilled in surprise at first, which from the way the hand soon removed itself he assumed was what Evie had wanted. But when the hand was gone, he quickly realised he wanted it back. He'd forgotten how much he used to like having his hair petted. And apparently he definitely still liked it now.  
  
So, none-too-subtly, he began squirming again and was rewarded when the hand returned, but when he settled it was soon gone just like before. He pouted. And from the small giggle above him, he learned Evelyn wasn't looking at her project anymore and instead down at him. He glanced up at her, his hair falling over his eyes, and he blew at it to try and move it away.  
  
Evie's fingers pushed the hair out of his eyes for him before they pushed into his hair and rested on his head. "Is... is this alright?" she asked softly and slowly began to run her fingers through the strands in a petting motion.  
  
Pietro couldn't even begin to describe how alright that was, so just settled for a hum and a nod, his sleepy eyes falling shut a second after. He felt a drowsy smile grown on his face when her hand continued to run through his hair, her fingertips gently massaging over his scalp as he listened to her return to her project. He let out a long breath, stretching out his arms above him before letting them settle beside him and snuggling down under the covers, quickly finding himself falling asleep. The last thing he heard before he dropped off completely was the lamp switching off and felt Evie shuffling under the covers, her hand still in his hair.


End file.
